The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled
by CrossyCross
Summary: He was set for a life of pain, of hate, of suffering, and of sorrow. A gift changed all that, a gift, that was power unequaled. With this power, he will change the world and all that exists in it, be they the gods of the pantheon, or the devils of hell...
1. Chapter 1

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Swirls of particles..._existence, _swirled as the entity moved through the void between worlds, its 'eyes' (or what counted for its eyes) locked in a particular portal, one that opened into a room seemingly made more out of shadow than actual matter.

The entity grinned (or what passed for a grin for such a being) as it passed through the opening, its essence proclaiming itself in a pulse of what could only be described as supremacy, with enough strength behind it to force an entire pantheon of gods to grovel at its feet. The sole occupant of the room before it, a man sitting silently on a chair, didn't even twitch.

The man wore an expensive suit, probably worth more than a hundred middle-class men will earn in a lifetime, with an L-shaped cane made entirely out of a dull-gray material on his lap.

Though his upper body was concealed by shadows, the man seemed to become annoyed, annoyed at the omnipotent being before him who could destroy creation itself at will.

"I know why you're here, and your idea is crazy. Very crazy." The voice was cultured, its tone light, but guarded, the emotions of the speaker unidentifiable.

The entity seemed to grin once again. "Are any of my ideas anything but?" Its 'voice' echoed in the small room, unnatural and inhuman.

The man seemed to nod his assent. "Most of them are, though our creation is something between utter madness, and absolute brilliance." His hand went to the cane, gently stroking its thick handle as he spoke, fingers brushing against intricate and unidentifiable carvings. "But this time, you may have gone too far. You seek to give to a newborn babe the most coveted power in all existence. There is a big difference between that and kicking Crimson into a warworld."

The entity shrugged, an act that seemed impossible for a formless being, but something it somehow did. "As interesting as your cousin is, even he gets boring after the twelve billionth time, and I have never tried experimenting with **your **kin before."

Red appeared in the darkness, rising as the man-nay, boy; for he seemed barely out of his teens, stood, walking into the sparse lighting.

His face was pale, very pale, with features that betrayed no nationality and could only be described as **human**,but strikingly handsome, with medium-length hair that hung just over his eyes.

His eyes.

They were red, twin orbs of red that gleamed with knowledge and a certainty in that knowledge that was simply unnatural. Up to now, he had had his eyes closed. His cane clacked on the floor as he spoke. "And with good reason. My line is above all others because of that power. Giving it to an untested child is a disaster waiting to happen, a disaster, I may add, that may very well affect you too!"

Another shrug. "I know. That's why I'm only giving him a watered-down version of your gift. Though..." The entity seemed to smirk. "I'm sure you already knew that."

The male sighed, sitting back down. "Yes. Yes I did. Still, such power in the hands of a child, and one that isn't, and won't be, made to handle such, even if you will limit it only to his realities." He frowned. "Speaking of realities, are you sure your choice is wise? His life as an ignored pariah is bad enough, but you chose a universe where every day he is but a few steps from death's door. Unless he manages to change the timeline with your blessing, he will not be much different from what he was fated to be if you hadn't interfered."

The entity laughed, moving wildly around the room, its form shifting like the wind as it did so. "That is the point of it all! Your family's power is considered the greatest among all, and what better way to test its greatness by giving it an impossible test? The child will be given power beyond all, and he must survive-nay, THRIVE in a hostile world that seeks to destroy him!" The being slowed, the stormy movement abating, though its grin remained. "A world, I may add, that is so much more than most of its usual incarnations."

The cane tapped the floor as the man frowned. "What do you me-" His eyes widened, and he blinked several times before he regained his composure. He shook his head in disbelief. "The boy's world is a sleeping dragon, and you seek to awake it as you give him the power."

The entity's eyes glowed in approval. "Exactly!"

The boy sighed as everything clicked into place, before he stared at the entity once more, red eyes narrowing into slits. "While all that makes sense, you appearing to me however, does not. Why would the most powerful being of all want to tell lowly me his plan, unless...I myself am a part of said plan."

The glow got brighter as it nodded.

Sighing, the male flipped the cane, holding the other end and letting the entity grasp the handle. Its formless mass spread, touching his fingertips and enveloping his entire hand, before slowly receding completely, from both of them.

It studied the 'hand' that it had used on the boy, grinning at it, giving a lopsided solute to the male before disappearing into the deep recesses of a void portal.

Alone once more, the boy sighed heavily in what almost seemed to be pity. He looked up, though only shadows were visible. "Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze...you have your work cut out for you kid, a lot of work..."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Sandaime sighed as the ANBU reported the unrest in the village after the public proclamation of the Kyuubi being sealed inside Naruto.

It was a stupid decision, one he had started regretting nearly right after he said it, for the villagers had immediately erupted into a mob when they heard the news, screaming for his death. Not even the clear sight of armed ninjas could stop them as a few actually rushed to the child with knives in an attempt to stab it to death.

When they finished, he dismissed them, noticing the subtle glances of hatred they sent the boy on the crib along the way. It seems even the ninjas loathed him. "What am I to do with you boy?" He said to himself as he stared at the sleeping boy.

The world shook, the ground quaking from an unknown force, and Hiruzen nearly fell to the ground.

He surely did though, when shockwaves of a force that could only be described as _other_ rumbled across the entire land, and disaster struck as landslides occurred, tsunamis started forming, volcanoes erupted, and other calamities were created from the sudden shockwave.

Immediately, when the shaking and shockwaves stopped, the Hokage ran outside, undressing into his shinobi clothes and rushing to the gathered shinobi.

The entity from before rose out of the ground. 'Smiling', it moved to the baby, leaning above it, tilting its head several times in curiosity before tapping the child on the head. _Something _sunk into the forehead of the baby, but Naruto seemed unaffected by this. The smile widened.

It snapped its fingers (despite not having a hand), causing an L-shaped cane exactly like the one it had grasped earlier to appear. A gesture from it sent it shooting outside, passing through anyone and anything until it reached a designated location.

The baby frowned, then suddenly flinched, before going still. The being blinked, before shaking off its worry when it studied the baby once more. It could only imagine what was happening inside the mind of the child with the power it had given it.

Laughing, it sunk into the ground, reveling in the knowledge of the awakened beings that he knew would be blinking the sleep out of their eyes right now, likely to cause more than an undue amount of damage on the world as the shinobi knew it. "Well, my part is over. Let's see what you're going to do now Naruto..." Those were its last words as it disappeared completely, which disappeared without a trace, and all was peaceful in the office.

In the mind of Naruto, however, all was NOT peaceful.

The mind of baby, even a baby with a demon sealed inside him, was a blank slate, open to outside influence to be molded into what it will become in the future, so it wasn't the sewer that it was destined to become in the future.

And just as only the body of a baby could adapt to house a demon of Kyuubi's magnitude, so too, could only the mind of a baby adapt to contain the KNOWLEDGE of this magnitude that was being wired into his brain, for knowledge was the power that the entity had given him.

But it was more than just an encyclopedia of knowledge that was being put in him, more than a country's, more than a world's, more than a universe's. This was the knowledge of EVERYTHING concerning the universe**S** of Naruto (and more besides), and it was being put inside his brain.

Right now, Naruto knew so much he thought he was God, but he suddenly knew he was not. He knew every language that had ever been used in the Multiverse of Naruto, he knew who his father was, who his mother was, that Kyuubi was sealed inside of him, that Madara had caused the attack that had killed his father and caused the sealing.

He knew of Orochimaru, and how he would defect. He knew of Nagato, who, even now, was training his powers for the time he would kill Hanzo of the Salamander in revenge for Yahiko's death.

Heck, he even knew every movement they would make in the fight.

This was not normal for a child, he knew, for he knew too, the thoughts of every child ever born in the Multiverse of Naruto, and it was little more than the instinct to scream whenever it didn't have all it wanted.

He knew so much, answers appearing to so many questions that a scientist might make, and many more of philosophers. So many that it hurt.

Then, his mind adapted, and the universe-wide river of knowledge that was forcing itself into his mind ceased its pressure. If he was to describe what had happened, he would say that the river of information had been turned into a lake, a lake that was connected to his mind by a controlled valve.

All that knowledge remained at his reach, and all he had to do was reach out for it (and because of the 'valve', the pressure could be controlled).

He wondered about the question of life, of why and how was he given this power, but the answers were surprisingly not there.

Nor did he know what he was destined or **supposed** to be doing in this life, despite having the knowledge on his many, many, MANY other alternate universe selves.

And so he wondered what to do with this knowledge, until he started applying it, learning about HIS universe, and searching the close past for what had happened, for he surmised that this knowledge must have been given/received by him barely an hour before.

What he saw surprised him. The shockwave that had terrified the shinobi of the land was not made to destroy, but to awaken.

He saw great dragons stretching in their massive caverns, creatures of the night screeching, howling, growling, their awakening, monsters of the depths once again stalking the seven seas, hastily replacing predators that had thought themselves supreme, ancient races rising from their slumber and thriving once more.

His world, it seemed, had had much of its inhabitants sleeping. The ninjas and their people barely scratched the surface.

He also saw the entity that had given him the power, and when he thought to know what its thoughts were, he received instead a shock to his head, and he saw it smile mischievously at him, wagging a finger at him like he was an impertinent child. He scowled mentally. He was a child, but he wasn't impertinent.

Through his vast knowledge though, he made an accurate guess of what he knew.

He knew EVERYTHING (or at least, he had the capability to know everything) there was to know about the Multiverse of Naruto, from the very steps a man will take, to the future up to the end of each world (if it had one). Therefore, the entity that gave him this knowledge was not of this world. **Literally. **

Knowing that the answer to its identity was inaccessible to him, he gave up on that, instead focusing on himself now.

He knew of his future if he DIDN'T have all this knowledge, and it was a bleak one. This universe had a more savage people of Konoha than others, and the child that he was to grow up into was a mentally scarred boy who could trust no one but himself.

He made a small thought, a random wondering about what would happen if he used his newfound knowledge to his advantage to avoid the betrayals, attacks, and wrong actions that would one way or another, cause a traumatic experience.

He blinked when the question was answered, and he smiled at the implications: he didn't know what he **should **do, but he knew what WOULD happen if he did something different, therefore, through mental trial and error, he could find the perfect choice to take.

He laughed then, for this was a grand solution to a life fraught with peril, who faced treachery at every turn, and whose few friends were destined to die horribly from vindication. Despite this however, he was reluctant to make use of it, for everything had a price, and what kind of price must it be for the power to know pretty much everything?

You are really are an idiot aren't you? Oh very well, I'll give you a freebie, just this once.

He blinked as the answer came to him: Nothing. Whoever had given him this knowledge had given it to him with no strings attached, and the only thing he had to worry about (that was related to the gift of knowledge) was powerful beings of the Narutoverse intent on taking his knowledge for their own.

That is, if they even knew about it in the first place.

He smiled. Life was looking good.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**[Twelve Years Later]**

If you were to ask a citizen of Konoha about Naruto Uzumaki, your answer would typically be: 'Fishcake? Who the hell is that?' It was a far cry from the typical responses in other universes, where it was nigh-always answered with extravagance of either good or (most of the time) malevolent emotions.

THIS Naruto, wise to the true nature of the villagers, and privy to their thoughts, had avoided every confrontation, every attack, and every carefully-planned betrayal. Due to this lack of contact, pretty much none of the villagers knew him (sure, they knew the stories about him, but they didn't even know what he looked like), and the ninjas that hated him and would normally spread the word of his location to everyone couldn't spread the word if there was no word to spread. With Naruto knowing their every plan and thought, they could not catch him.

Even more, the shinobis' constant reference of him as 'the demon, the demon brat/child, the Kyuubi brat/child' and lack of name made those the actual form of identification of the people.

Naruto laughed at them from the safety of his home. It was utterly stupid. They expected him to come out looking like the wild stories that people had spread about him, and to actually say that he was *choose preferred reference* to their face. And so, it was with great pleasure that Naruto finally walked in the open, after so many years of carefully hiding, biding his time.

Although his whisker marks were covered by makeup, he stood out, and it didn't take long for people to notice him, for he wore an expensive suit (hand-woven), and he grasped tightly in his hand the handle of the cane that the entity had left for him inside the left nostril of the Yondaime's face.

Despite this, Naruto, for the first time, walked around Konoha without needing to move through the dark alleyways for cover.

Looking around him, seeing the happy and peaceful expressions on the villagers, Naruto almost believed they were a kind people. A quick question to himself made him remember the malice that was locked inside their hearts, eager to leap out and torture an innocent child.

Glancing at a group of staring villagers, he smiled at them and nodded his head. They blushed in embarrassment and moved on. He chuckled, and it didn't take long before people stopped staring. After all, stranger ninja came here everyday.

His cane tapping the ground as he walked, the five-foot tall blond (for he was not malnourished this time) arrived at the academy, eyes carefully studying the graduates.

Cerulean eyes narrowed as he saw Mizuki, the traitorous chuunin, convince an idiot failure of the 'test'.

He scoffed, turning around and heading for the location where he knew Mizuki would stop to catch his breath after killing the dolt.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mizuki panted as he stopped to catch his breath. He scowled. Stupid idiot! He couldn't even steal the Forbidden Scroll right! He just HAD to have the ANBU tailing him, didn't he?

A voice spoke up suddenly. "You know, considering how important the scroll is, I think YOU are the idiot, thinking an academy failure can steal such an important object from under the nose of an ANBU squad." The voice chuckled. "Then again, if it were me, I'd put at least four teams on guard, not one. So I guess you're all idiots."

The chuunin turned towards the source of the voice, frowning as he studied the blue-eyed blonde with the cane and weird clothes.

It was the blonde's turn to frown. "My clothes aren't weird. You just lack fashion sense."

Mizuki stared at him. What? Did he just read his mind?

The blonde's lips curved into a smile. "Yes."

The traitor turned, intending to run, but instead he fell, the scroll of sealing falling off his back to thump against a nearby tree. It took him a second to discover that he hadn't tripped, that his legs had been severed at the thighs. It took another second for the pain to kick in.

He screamed.

Loudly.

Naruto frowned as he approached the legless chuunin. He raised his left hand, which clutched the actual handle of the cane, a section of the other end in his right, which turned out to house a straight blade, one which dripped blood.

With a thought, the sheathe of the blade fired, making mush of Mizuki's groin area. Naruto smirked sadistically as the screams increased. "I would love to do more to you, but time runs short." He muttered, cutting off the arms of the flailing traitor, then flipped him over.

His right arm moved with lightning speed and surgical precision, cutting open the body right down the middle, exposing the still beating heart. He stabbed the blade in just the right way that it had enough leverage to be lifted from the open chest, and in his last moments Mizuki saw his very own heart spin in the air, before exploding in a mist of blood.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Iruka stared at the corpse of his traitorous friend, fighting the urge to puke at the body impaled on a tree trunk by kunai, chest cut open, exposing his insides to the world. His intestines dangled from the wound, smelling especially putrid in the fresh night air, and Iruka could smell the waste as his body released its bowels in death.

He glanced up, and lost the battle, puking his dinner into the ground.

Mizuki's arms and legs had been carved into small pieces, small pieces stuck to the tree to form the words: 'Traitor'.

An ANBU spoke from behind him, apparently in a conversation. "The medics say those bits over there are pieces of his heart."

"Well that explains why he didn't have one."

Iruka threw up once more.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto sat down on a stool, taking a plate from the counter and placing the cooking meat from the grill on the plate.

The chef glared at him. "Put that back. Those aren't yours."

He chuckled. "Let me guess, they're someone's who takes them without you knowing but leaves the proper amount of payment, along with a generous tip every other day at around this time. The next day he would leave the plate he used last time along with the payment, and it goes on and on and on..."

The chef blinked, before realization dawned. He smiled. "Ahh."

Naruto nodded, before focusing once more on the food. That was his main way of acquiring food. With his knowledge, he knew at what time people wouldn't be looking, and he would take what he wanted and leave a payment. The villagers didn't ask questions so long as they got paid.

Finishing, he left the payment and the tip that he left there everyday, moving to the exit.

No one saw him walk out.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A swirl of wind, a scattering of leaves. A cane tapping against the wood of the floor. Then a voice.

"Hello...old man."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up, his gruff expression (born of hours of paperwork) changing into a smile as he looked upon Naruto.

The blond smiled, holding his arms out wide, and the two embraced.

Once greetings were over, they both sat down, and the Sandaime pushed the paperwork to the edges of the desk. They could wait.

The Jinchuuriki's gaze wandered around the room. "I don't know what to say. Everything looks the same as last time." He glanced at the stacks of paperwork. "Except maybe the paperwork."

The aged ninja glared at said paperwork. "Tell me about it. They seem to multiply every time I look another way."

Naruto picked up a random stack, skimming through the contents. He frowned. "Annoying. Almost half of these are from those senile fools. Approving them would just give them more power. Therefore, you cannot entrust it to anyone else but yourself, for even though singularly, they have little effect, a few thousand of these over the years would take a serious chunk out of your authority. However, dealing with all this takes up a big part of your time." He put the stack back on the desk. "You're in quite a bind."

The Hokage sighed. "If only there was a solution to this problem."

"Indeed there is. Tell me, why have you never thought of using Kage Bunshin **(Shadow Clone)**? While normal clones wouldn't have the mind to figure out which ones to approve, a Kage Bunshin does."

The Hokage stared, before rapidly creating three clones and ordering them to do the paperwork, much to the chagrin of the clones. However, they obeyed, and the Sarutobi danced around the office in glee.

"Times are changing."

He stopped, staring at Naruto's stern expression.

"The events that have been set into motion on the day of my birth are about to come into fruition." Naruto closed his eyes, his expression wistful, as if remembering a past memory. A moment later, it shifted into a steely gaze. "The shadow of war approaches Konoha and its inhabitants, but that will not compare to the revelations that will sprout later on. You have to get ready old man. To be plain, you're out of practice, and that will prove fatal in the coming years."

The aged ninja frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember the ninja that returned from a training session in the Forest of Death saying that his team had been killed by a demon?"

The Sandaime sat on a chair. "Yes. I sent an ANBU squad, but they couldn't find any proof at all."

"The guy wasn't lying."

Eyes widened, and Naruto noted the muffled chokes of the ANBU. "It really was a demon. Well, fiend. Chlorofiend if you want to be specific." Noting his confused expression, he clarified. "Plant Monster. Any damage to the surroundings can quickly be covered up by the damn thing, and since it looks so ancient, any damage you see would seem to be from ages ago." He put a hand to his chin. "Hard to kill too. Especially in a forest. Water makes it stronger, swamping it in earth does nil; it'll just grow from the new land, and it would just piece itself back together if you cut it up. You have to burn the damn thing to ashes. Every last bit."

The Jinchuuriki waved down the Hokage's sudden decision to send an attack force to the forest. "Didn't you listen? It's impossible to kill in a forest. It'll lodge itself in the trees, so unless you're going to burn the entire place down, don't even bother. Not to mention the problem of finding fire strong enough to burn it in the first place. Besides, it won't be a problem. Chlorofiends just like their space. Sure, they hunt anything that's in their vicinity, but that's it. The real problem comes when the other demons start waking up and popping out of gateways."

Hiruzen didn't know what to say. There were MORE coming?

Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, it won't bother anything outside of its vicinity, so the Chuunin Exams will still work and no one will get hurt as long as they stay away from it. Worry about the immediate problem, not the future ones. Go get yourself back into shape, and get ready for a Kage-level battle in a few months' time." He smiled. "Well, I guess that's all I have to say." He rose, a shunshin already forming. "Tell Yakumo I said hi."

With that said, he disappeared, leaving a stressed-out Hokage wishing god would stop throwing all this shit at him, and would later decide to go to his private training grounds to blow off some steam on some innocent training dummies.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wrinkled eyelids opened as something clacked against the wooden floor, and wearily, the old man sat up straight, brown eyes staring into Naruto Uzumaki's azure orbs.

"You're done." It was a statement.

The aged man's eyes narrowed. He licked his lips, before nodding. Somehow, the kid always knew when something was up or had happened. He had stopped questioning it after the thirtieth time. "Follow me."

They entered a room dimly lit by a hanging bulb. He pulled off the cloth covering the bulges on the table.

Even in the dim light, his creations shone luminously, like the full moon, and he couldn't help but smile.

"They're beautiful." The boy's words made the grin widen.

"Aye. They are. Beautiful as they are lethal, if the design you gave is any indication."

The blonde smiled at the white-haired elder. "Thanks, I couldn't have done it without your knowledge on forging the metal."

"Bah. I have a feeling you know EXACTLY how to shape the alloy."

The Jinchuuriki chuckled, eyes twinkling. "There is a difference between someone who knows every single detail by the book and someone with fifty years of experience."

The old man shrugged, leaning on the wall. "Either way, that's the last I'm ever going to make. Take good care of them."

Naruto nodded, taking the objects and turning away.

"Don't kill Zabuza if you have to. He's a good kid, just had to be a bloodthirsty one."

Another nod, before he walked away. "I know."

With that, Naruto faded away, and the old man, the creator of the majority of the blades of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, smiled in resignation, knowing that he had left his mark on the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"...trim a garden, paint a fence, babysit the babies in the day-care center, help clean up the Inuzuka clan kennels, or-"

*crash* "MREOWW!"

"Ahh! Tora-kun!"

"-once again catch the Fire Lord's Wife's cat." The Hokage added without preamble.

Sasuke, Kiba, and Sakura twitched, glancing outside to see the dreaded cat bound into the forest for another genin team (hopefully not theirs) to retrieve.

Kiba growled, slamming his hands down on the table containing numerous mission scrolls. "No way old man! I'm done with all that D-rank crap! I'm a ninja, not a maid. I'm not going to paint any fences or babysit any stupid toddlers today. I'll either get a C-rank mission or nothing!"

This was the sight that greeted Kurenai Yuuhi's team, Kakashi nonchalantly reading his porn and oblivious to the world, Sasuke brooding, Kiba growling with his palms on the table, the Hokage raising an eyebrow in surprise, and Sakura and Iruka glaring at Kiba at his blatant disrespect.

The Sandaime noticed them, and nodded in greeting, turning back to Kiba. "Unfortunately Kiba-san, there is only one C-rank mission available, and I have already promised it to Kurenai-san for her team to undertake."

Kiba's jaw dropped. "What? Are you telling me that THEY will get a C-rank mission before I do? Damn it!"

A voice spoke up, light and female. "Hokage-sama, may I suggest a joint mission just this once? The first higher-tier missions are important to a ninja's development, and though the payment will be reduced due to being divided between six instead of three, I believe the experience will pay off in the future."

The age shinobi raised an eyebrow at the most talented member of the Kurama Clan, putting a hand on his chin and thinking. He smiled. "Very well then. I believe your reasoning is sound, and so I approve of the joint mission. Tazuna-san, you may come out now."

A door opened, and an old man with a beer bottle came in. He blinked drunkenly at the ninjas. "Is this what I have for protection? A bunch of brats? I should get a refund for this!"

"Hey!" Kiba yelled, offended.

Yakumo's reaction was more subtle, choosing to smile mysteriously as Tazuna suddenly felt a dread chill run down his spine, just as he felt multiple edged weapons prick his body at various vital points, not piercing the flesh, but containing the threat of sudden and merciless death if the wielders so wanted to.

A breath whispered at his ear. "Best not to insult us again Tazuna-san, we're ninjas. We are so much more than what we appear to be..."

Nearly everyone in the room blinked as Tazuna suddenly blanched, before frantically looking around the room for something.

Kurenai and the Hokage raised an eyebrow at the smile that Yakumo hid behind a hand.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yakumo skipped to her home, smiling. Her first C-rank mission! One of the first steps to becoming a great ninja!

She slowed down, the smile becoming nostalgic as she remembered the one who made it all possible...

**[Flashback]**

Six-year-old Yakumo Kurama coughed violently, before rushing to the bathroom to puke out her breakfast.

Done, she trudged glumly to her bed, despairing at her situation.

She dreamed of being a great ninja, and the incredible talent in her bloodline that had been blessed unto her made it seem oh so very possible.

But if she had been blessed with great skill and mind, her body was not so graced. She was frail and weak, barely able to do any strenuous actions without resulting into vicious bouts of coughing.

She sighed. Her dream seemed so very far away.

The door opened, and she blinked as the Hokage came in, smiling.

"Yakumo-san, there is someone I'd like you to meet, one who quite possibly has a solution for your situation."

The words made her eyes widen, the person moreso.

He stepped out from behind the Hokage, spiky blond hair moving with each step, unnaturally bright blue eyes studying the room with clarity not normally found in six-year-olds like him. He looked at her, and she felt her heart stop as something in him seemed to...growl?

"Don't mind it. It will disappear once I leave. Our current problem is dealing with the demon inside you." The steely tone of his words should have sounded comical with the child's voice that he had, especially with the cane he had with him, but it didn't, he sounded like...a leader.

She blinked as his words reached her. "Demon?"

He nodded stiffly. "Yes. Demon." He looked her in the eye, and the growling intensified. "Yakumo, I will need your trust if this is to work. Do I have it?"

Very slowly, she nodded.

His cane sounded against her forehead, and she dropped like a sack of potatoes.

When she woke up, she couldn't see or hear: she had been blindfolded and something was plugging her ears. She didn't panic, because she wasn't gagged, nor was she tied up, and she could feel his hand gripping hers.

It squeezed. Once.

She nodded.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto felt his lips twitch into a smile as the girl squeezed back.

She would hold.

He lifted the blade of the cane, letting the edge of the unnatural steel touch her neck, checking to make sure her other hand was touching the weak-willed prisoner that he had managed to convince the Hokage to let him use as sacrifice.

It was easy to convince him really. The man was a vile person, a thief, a murderer, and a rapist. Weak-willed that he had broken in the prison in a week. No one would miss him if he died, no one would care if he was killed.

After that, all it had taken was the promise of a great ninja being added to the ranks of Konoha, and he had approved.

He didn't mind the Sandaime's mind-set at all. After all, it was true. Some people mattered, some did not. The man didn't. Yakumo did.

She flinched when she felt the blade, but didn't struggle.

He put a hand on her forehead, and immediately felt it.

Ido.

The demon in her wasn't locked in a cage. It was more apt to say that Yakumo was in a mental bastion that contained the 'controls' for her body.

It growled at him. **'What are you planning fleshbag? That I will believe that you will kill the maiden if do not move to the mongrel that you have set for me? It is such an obvious plan an imp would know of it.'**

'_Yes.' _The blatant honesty surprised the demon. _'You're a thinking demon, are you not? You KNOW I will kill Yakumo if you do not move. Though this will not kill you and only send you back to the pits of Makai, how long will it be before you are summoned or can go back once again? A long time. Even for a demon.' _Azure eyes twinkled, and Ido growled at the last statement, which was true. _'You are not a patient demon.'_

'**The elder nin. With me just getting used to a mortal coil, he will manage to kill me.'**

Naruto ran a nail down and then horizontally at his chest. _'An oath: he, and any other ninja will not attack you.'_

It growled. The action was genuine, so what was the catch?

'_Choose Ido. If you don't move, I will kill Yakumo, and you will be sent back to hell, for until someone bothers to write your name somewhere and a mage tries you out or until you gather enough demonic energy to break the barrier between worlds. If you do move, then you have my oathed promise that no ninja will attack you, and you have a human so weak-willed as to only require a mere step to take over.'_

The demon hesitated, and Naruto let the blade dig into the skin, drawing blood.

It moved.

The man convulsed, and Naruto stared apathetically as his features changed, darkening and turning into a demonic caricature of what it once was.

He lifted the blade, putting it at the neck of the possessed whelp.

The eyes opened, glaring at him, radiating a sinister red light. **'You seek to kill me with such a puny blade? THAT was your plan? To make use of the loophole of the oath, as you are obviously not an official ninja.' **Its eyes narrowed. **'The best you can do is to send me back to hell.'**

Naruto moved the blade lazily, and it passed through its neck with utterly no resistance, as if it was still moving through air. It was a sharpness that the demon couldn't predict.

But it was more than that.

The demon screamed, even as it was destroyed, TRULY, destroyed. The blade was unnatural! It was a destroyer! A DESTROYER!

Naruto scoffed. "You're just sore because I have a blade that actually does what it's supposed to do. Cut like no one's business and destroy, truly destroy, what it cuts."

"So I take it that you're done?"

The blonde glanced at the Hokage, who had been waiting behind the door. "Yes. Her body will now stop deteriorating. I have already given you the instructions on what herbs and food to give her and how to cook them. As for the ones they cannot get hold off, I will acquire them myself." He took a napkin, gently cleaning the blade, before putting it back in its sheath.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first thing she heard when the beeswax was removed was his cane clacking against the floor as he walked out.

She stood up, instantly noting how fresh she felt, secondly noting the headless black body of the demon. However, her attention was most focused on her savior. "W-wait!"

He stopped, before turning to face her slowly. "Yes?"

She blushed. "T-Thanks...for everything."

He nodded.

She gulped. "Before you leave...can I ask for your name? Just so that I have something to remember you by."

He turned on his feet, and she thought he wouldn't answer.

"Naruto."

She blinked, but by then, he was gone.

She ran out and peered at the corridors. He wasn't there.

She smiled. She tried out the name. "Naruto..." She liked how it sounded.

**[End Flashback]**

"-kumo-chan! Hello? Are you daydreaming again?"

She blinked, before looking up to her worried mother's face.

"Oh, mom. Don't worry. I was just reminiscing about something."

She smiled. "Ah, about what?"

Yakumo blushed. "About the one who cured me."

The smile widened. "Naruto eh? Seems like a good kid, even if he was only mentioned by the Hokage, but with what he did for you, I really wish I had given him a thank you gift. Though what we could possibly give to repay him is something I don't know." She shrugged. "Anyway, you said you'll be getting your C-rank mission today. How about I help you pack?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Impostor!"

The word rang out as Yakumo turned the corner, and she walked in just in time to see Kakashi's team (well, two of them. Sakura was a wimp) try to kill their teacher.

She sighed. Idiots, all of them.

**[A few minutes later]**

After settling the misunderstanding, they had finally started on the journey, and Yakumo could keep barely keep in the groan of disappointment at how boring it was.

Kiba had no such qualms, complaining every ten minutes of the journey with various phrases like a little child, the most common of which was 'Are we there yet?'.

Due to the mind-numbing effects of the journey, the two chain-gauntlet-wielding Mist-nin that suddenly rose out of a puddle (which, now that she thought of it, should have been an easily-recognized sign. After all, it hadn't rained in days) was completely unprecedented.

Them ripping apart Kakashi was even more of a surprise.

However, she still maintained enough of her mind to go into a fighting stance and step in between them and the client.

Sasuke threw a kunai at them, which was deflected by a swipe of their claw-gauntlets, while Kiba's Gatsuuga (Drilling Fang) was easily evaded.

Shino and Hinata reacted, stepping forward to engage the threat, Shino sending out his horde of Kikai bugs to battle. Kurenai frowned, before making a seal to deal with the two chuunin.

She needn't have, as Yakumo smiled, even as she closed her eyes in the middle of battle, and hands of earth snapped out to grasp the two Mist nin's hands, preventing them from casting seals, while they sunk into the earth itself. They tried to jump, but the ground wouldn't let them go, and it continued until they were up to their necks in it.

Kurenai blinked. So THAT was the Kurama clan Kekkei Genkai.

Kakashi reappeared, apparently not at all dead (though Yakumo already knew this when she saw that it was really wooden parts that had been ripped apart), and proceeded to interrogate the mist Nins in the foliage to find out the cause of their attack.

There were multiple screams for half an hour, before they were abruptly ended. Sakura looked green all the while.

When Kakashi returned with the information he got from the Demon Brothers, they had Tazuna admitting to his reason for hiring them; that of Gato the shipping magnate draining the country of its wealth, and of the bridge that would lead to their freedom but needed their protection to finish.

After much pleading from Tazuna and enthusiastic cries from their students, the teachers finally agreed to continue the mission, despite the danger, on the condition that they would be paid the rightful amount after the country recovered, and the journey continued.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kiba sniffed the air, before suddenly throwing a kunai into the bushes.

Everybody snapped into a stance (except Tazuna and certain weak genins of course), cautious to any danger, and Kiba slowly reached in to pull out a...

Bunny?

"Kiba you baka! You had us all worked up for a rabbit!" The pink-haired harpy screeched.

The Inuzuka scratched the back of his head on embarrassment. "Sorry, I thought it-"

All the while Kakashi had been thinking. _'A white rabbit? Odd. That's not in seaso-" _His eyes widened. "Get down!" He pulled the bridge builder and Sasuke down with him, even as the massive Zanbato whirled out of the trees, cutting through where their heads had been an instant ago and lodging itself on a particularly thick tree.

A bear of a man appeared crouching on it, dressed in camouflage pants, with the lower part of his face covered with bandages and a lopsided scratched mist hitai-ate.

The moment he appeared, killing intent practically swamped the battlefield, and Sasuke choked, eyes widening in fear, his kunai inching for his throat to end his life if it would stop the dreaded feeling.

Kakashi's hand snapped out and grasped his hand. His eye curved into his signature eye-smile. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." Sasuke recovered, and pretended he didn't just try to kill himself out of sheer terror.

Yakumo scoffed. _'Arrogant bastard.' _Before putting her attention back on the enemy.

The bandages crinkled as the man grinned menacingly, eyes twinkling in macabre amusement and barely concealed bloodlust. "Sharingan no Kakashi."

The white-haired man's eyes narrowed. "Zabuza, the Demon of the Bloody Mist."

Sasuke frowned. _'Sharingan? Why would sensei have a title like that?'_

"Get back, this guy's beyond you three. Kurenai, help me here." Team Seven's sensei muttered, and they obeyed, moving to guard the bridge builder, who was shaking in his boots right now. He tilted his headband upwards, and Sasuke stared at the sharingan eye.

'_A sharingan? But...how?'_

Zabuza laughed. "Pulling out the sharingan at first sight, eh? I'm honored." He glanced at Tazuna. "I was about to propose that you give the old fart up and I won't hurt any of you, but I guess that's out of the question now." He made handseals. "Alright then, Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

The already thick mist spread, enlarging, spreading everywhere until they could barely see their hands if they waved it in front of their faces.

Zabuza's voice rang out from the mist, booming all around them, causing a terrifying effect. "There are eight vital points in the human body: Heart, jugular, liver, spleen, spine, brain, throat, lungs." His voice abruptly stopped, and everyone blinked at the sudden lack of killing intent.

It returned, twice as great, and everyone gasped at its sudden return, even as he finished with a shout. "Which one shall I take?"

Kakashi's eyes widened in realization. _'Shit! He's heading for the bridge builder!' _

Zabuza appeared behind Tazuna, Kubikiri Houcho **(Head-Cutting Cleaver) **lifted for a bone-crushing downward slash.

Kakashi managed to get there in time, reinforcing twin kunai with chakra to block the blow. Even then though, cracks spread throughout the weapons, and he was already kneeling on the ground with the effort of the block.

The nuke-nin chuckled, glancing at the clone behind him.

Kakashi scowled. "What's so funny? I've got you." The clone stabbed with the kunai, and Zabuza fell as a puddle of water. Mizu Bunshin. **(Water Clone)**

The Zanbato cut left, then downward, parting both Kakashis in half.

Zabuza wasn't surprised to see that they were both clones, and he struck behind him, sending Kakashi hopping backwards, sporting a minor cut. The swordsman grinned maniacally, hefting the sword on his shoulder, muttering; "That all you got?" before rushing forward.

The two become streaks as they struck at each other, and every now and then, blood would fly.

Kurenai frowned. Though she was loathe to admit it, she wasn't all that good compared to these two. Sure, she was jounin like them, but she was a newly-instated one, not war veterans like them.

She faded into the trees.

But she would be damned if she didn't do anything.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zabuza landed on a branch, out of sight for now, smiling. "Heh. Kakashi's gotten rusty. This'll be a cakewalk."

"Oh Really?"

The female voice was a surprise, and Zabuza growled as he felt his muscles not respond to his thoughts, even before the trees grew to entangle him and the red-eyed woman appeared with a kunai, intent on ending his life.

He calmed himself forcibly, sending out a rigid pulse of chakra, and was pleased to hear her surprised gasp as the illusion broke, and his punch sent her tumbling away. Before he could do much more though, the copy-nin reappeared, and they were back to striking each other at high speeds.

He relished the surprise on his face when the water suddenly moved where he landed, and he was incased in his water bubble by a water clone, unable to escape and set to eventually drown. He landed on the shore, where he stabbed Kubikiri Houcho into the ground, eyes closed.

Kurenai, having put him in a genjutsu, didn't expect him to suddenly lash out, hand grasping her neck and squeezing like a vice, strands of water keeping her hands from using any handseals and escaping.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yakumo furrowed her brow when she saw the situation. "They need our help." She glanced at her team, then at the other one. "If we don't do anything, they'll die. Are you with me?"

They nodded, and the three males charged after a quick explanation of the plan, leaving the females to defend the client.

Kiba and Sasuke engaged the water clones that Zabuza had summoned, using fireballs and Drilling Fangs to destroy a few of them. Shino unleashed his swarm, covering the air in a fog of insects.

Sasuke jumped into the air, taking out a Fuuma shuriken and throwing it at the Zabuza that held Kakashi in the bubble. Let it be noted that the shuriken had passed through the swarm.

The clone caught the shuriken with its free hand, but didn't expect the bugs that had hitched a ride on it. Though not as easily dispelled as shadow clones, water clones were still very easily dispelled, and a stabbing thrust by an Aburame-sized beetle would certainly do the trick.

Zabuza, the REAL Zabuza pounced away as Kakashi slashed at him with a kunai, leaving an oxygen-starved Kurenai heavily gasping for air, but alive.

He landed on the far side of the lake, and started making handseals, Kakashi copying his movements. He growled, speeding up, but Kakashi kept up. "How are you do-"

"-ing this, you one-eyed monkey." Kakashi finished his sentence calmly.

Another growl, before they finished at exactly the same time. "Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The water rose up, turning into twin gigantic dragons of water. They roared, then crashed into each other, biting, whipping, roaring, and being all-around wild, until the jutsu dissipated.

Kakashi was already casting another jutsu, but Zabuza had disappeared, and when Kakashi glanced at where he had been a moment ago, he didn't expect a hand to pull him under from the water.

His eyes widened when he saw that it was just another clone that pulled him down, and the real Zabuza had just finished the jutsu. He just did it underwater.

The lake erupted into a maelstrom, raging into a tidal wave that crashed into the forest, with Kakashi smack dab in the middle of it.

Trees were uprooted and land was torn asunder as the wave pierced nearly a mile into the forest.

Zabuza appeared in front of the battered Konoha Nin, breathing heavily. He had noticed during the casting of the Water Dragon that Kakashi was faster at making handseals than he was, having started a second or two after he did and finished at the same time.

That much of a difference would prove fatal if they started at the same time with the jutsu he just used, so he decided to surprise him, sinking into the water and continuing the handseals while a water clone disrupted his casting.

He himself had been slightly beat-up, being underwater while all the water had been pulled forward and churned into a raging force, but it was worth it to beat him. However, he was currently nearly out of chakra, so he had to finish this quick.

A mini-tornado of claws came out of the forest, and he barely dodged Kiba and Akamaru's joint attack. He spun, and Kiba and his companion were thrown back, a line of red on their chests from the sword.

Suddenly, Bugs swarmed around him, draining his already meager reserves. This had the dual effect of blocking his sight and letting Hinata get several Jyuuken strikes into his arms and legs.

He fell, glaring at them as he lay limply on the ground. "Taken down by a bunch of kids. Disgraceful."

Yakumo stepped out of the foliage, a sketchbook in her hands. She finished whatever she was sketching, and turned it around for everyone to see. A guillotine.

The air above Zabuza shimmered, and hints of steel appeared.

Senbon whistled through the air, before slamming into his neck. His eyes widened, before he became completely limp.

Yakumo frowned as a kimono-wearing girl with a mask leaped from a tree. "Thank you for weakening him. I have been tracking him for months now, and finally, I have him."

The Kurama stepped between her and the corpse. "Who are you?"

Kurenai put a hand on the girl's shoulder, shaking her head. "Leave it Yakumo. She's a hunter-nin. This is her job."

The hunter-nin nodded, picking up the body before disappearing in a shunshin.

Kiba growled. "Aw man! She stole our kill!"

Kurenai sighed. "Regardless, we're weakened right now, and she's no doubt at least jounin-level. Hunter-nins are protective of their kills. She would have fought tooth and nail for the right to his body."

Kiba blinked. "That kid was jounin level?"

The jounin nodded. "Yes. You shouldn't be surprised. There are always prodigies in the world that, though as young as you, is stronger than your sensei. Now, let's go help Kakashi."

After half an hour of effort, they were back on track, the members of team seven moving their sensei on a stretcher, every now and then shifting roles to regain their strength. Along the way, Kurenai went up to Yakumo. "Good work back then. If it wasn't for your plans, we wouldn't have taken down Zabuza."

Yakumo smiled.

It was near the end of the journey when Kurenai suddenly stopped, eyes wide. "I just realized something; hunter Nins are supposed to dispose of the body where they find it, and skilled practitioners can imitate death by piercing certain points on the body." She scowled. "I believe we've been duped, and that hunter Nin just then is currently nursing Zabuza back to health."

Zabuza was alive? Yakumo had only one thing to say. "Well crap."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A medium-sized ferryboat crunched lightly against the docks, and the meager passengers: just a few dozen, trudged out wearily.

All save one.

Naruto strode calmly down the gangplank, cane clacking against the wood, raising his head to gaze at Wave Country. He glanced to the left, where Tazuna's bridge was in clear sight, almost finished. He smiled at it, giving it a nod of approval, before walking into the village. Vendors almost instantly started shouting for him to buy their goods the moment they saw his strange, but doubtlessly expensive, clothes.

He ignored them all, walking into an alleyway filled with beggars.

He turned to the right, and a pair of chatting prostitutes immediately went into position, body seemingly relaxed and giving the best view of their body, their back arched to make their breasts as noticeable as possible.

He glanced at them, stopped, then walked towards them. They smiled. One, a brown-eyed brunette, the other, a similarly-eyed black-haired woman. Sisters. The brunette was the elder.

He stopped, and the two blinked as he started speaking. "You wish for a day when you need not sell your body to earn a living, for a land where your sister will find peace, and for man who will love you." He tapped the watch on his right hand, and handed the suitcase that appeared to the elder. "Go to Water Country, follow your instincts, and you will find the land and the day you wish for. Maybe not love, but hope, and fate just might give that too."

Shakily, she took the suitcase, opening it slightly. She slammed it close with a snap. Her eyes misted. "W-Why?"

His lips curved oh so slightly into a smile. "Reasons I cannot say. Now go, pack your belongings, and leave at sunrise."

The two bowed before him, saying "Thank you" before running off.

He stared after them, until they were swallowed up by the mist.

They would reach Water Country without incident, and would settle down in a relatively peaceful little village. There, the elder would find a talent in sewing, stitching, embroidery, and all kinds of clothwork. Meanwhile, the younger would find in herself a tinker, and the two would live in relative comfort with the incomes they would earn, with the world throwing very few problems at them throughout their lives.

He turned, eyes hardening at the mercenaries that Gato had hired to keep the townspeople in line that had arrived.

A bald, fat, giant of a man spoke. "Tha' was a lot of money you gave to those whores. I was thinking of goin after them, but I figured you have a lot more where those came from. Now fish 'em up, before I make you hurt."

Naruto glanced sideways. They had formed a circle around him, all two dozen of them. He spoke. "I gave that money to them for two reasons: one, out of a random urge for mercy, and second, so that I would meet you group of humanity's detritus." No one noticed it, but the cane which he had been holding just a moment ago had disappeared.

He smiled, the action revealing sharper-than-normal canines. "Though I know the styles to the letter, as they say; nothing can replace actual experience, and I cannot find any better use for you scum than as living training dummies."

Twin silver somethings snapped into his grip, and he made a stabbing motion, even though none was in his range.

Part of the silver object shot out of his hand, connected to the handle by a metallic cord, burying itself completely into the fat man's chest as blazing fire chakra snarled through the core of the cord, though none could see it due to being inside, reaching the blade.

It burst into an inferno, and the man screamed as the burning blade blazed, until he fell, turning into ashes in seconds.

The blade snapped back, attaching itself to the hilt, ready for another throw, in an instant.

His arm moved, and this time the blade and cable wrapped around two men. He sent wind chakra funneling through the weapon, and raised an eyebrow as the two were shredded into little itty bitty pieces by the cutting chakra.

He glanced sideways, noting the ones running away already. He stomped on the ground, and two earth walls sealed the alleyway. In their surprise, he struck, and three found themselves without heads.

Realizing their situation; fight or die, they drew their weapons, and charged.

And died.

Naruto cut open the stomach of the last one, sidestepping to avoid the spray of blood.

The man fell, screaming and crying. He stabbed his cranium.

Pulling out the blade, he studied them once more.

They were beautiful pieces, made out of metals that were the same color as pure silver, with eight-inch handles and twelve-inch serrated blades, which could extend for up a hundred meters, thanks to a masterwork of sealing a lot of the metallic cord.

Speaking of the metal thread, each cable was actually two pieces.

The core of the thread was an extremely chakra conductive metal, surrounded by a porous alloy that would allow chakra to escape but not to get inside, same was with the blades. The result of this was that any kind of chakra-sensing maneuver, be it doujutsu **(Eye Jutsu, such as Sharingan or Byakugan)**,skill, or technique wouldn't be able to see inside it to see if he was pumping chakra through it, but he could still release chakra through the blades or cord (though if he DID release chakra through the porous metal, it WOULD be seen).

He wiped the thick, serrated blades on a man's shirt, before sealing them back and taking out his cane.

A tap, and the earth walls went down, and he continued walking, only this time, he had some well-needed experience on using his new weapons.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"A family member fell ill, dear?" The cultured voice was a surprise to hear anywhere in Wave Country, where nearly everyone was a rough-spoken commoner, even moreso in a forest.

Haku slowly rose from the ground, dusting the dirt off her kimono and blinking at the strange man in the strange clothes with a cane. "Yes. I'm searching for herbs that will make him feel better."

The blonde man glanced at the basket, raising an eyebrow. "Hmm, impressive knowledge of botany. Would you mind if I helped?"

"No. Not at all."

He smiled, moving to a small patch of green-flowered purple-leaved plants. "Crush these into paste and put a pinch of it for every cup of water in boiling water for twenty minutes. They accelerate the body's natural regeneration by at least three times, though the patient must not do any strenuous activity during the period of recovery."

Haku blinked, before daintily taking the plants. "I didn't know about that. Thank you."

The man smiled. "You're welcome. Anything else?"

Haku looked at her basket. "There are several more..."

The blonde pulled up his sleeves, exposing muscled forearms, leaving his cane on the ground. "Well, let's get to work."

Haku stared for a few seconds at his arms, before shaking herself out of her reverie and giving him directions, in which where he went to work immediately. She narrowed her eyes at his clothes, then at the cane on the ground, before searching for the herbs herself.

"What are you?" The question seemed to surprise him, and he blinked, momentarily looking at her.

"A wanderer." Was his answer.

"You don't seem like one."

He chuckled at her response, the sound feeling much like a fresh breeze during summer. "It's the clothes isn't it? I look too much like an aristocrat trying to set a new trend; and everyone knows how nobles are." He pulled several plants from the earth, walking back to place them in the basket. "I'm not a noble, and these clothes are more travel-worthy than you think."

Haku nodded.

He grinned. "What about you? What are you?"

She blinked. Didn't expect that question. "...simply a daughter caring for her father."

He shrugged. "Fair enough shinobi. None can fake devotion good enough to fool me."

She moved, and in the span of an instant, several Senbon were poised at his throat. "How?"

He blinked at the needles, then at her. He raised an eyebrow. He laughed. "Shinobi, have a distinct...walk. They move like a hunter stalking its prey." He looked back down at the Senbon. "That, and you had a pack of Senbon in your sleeve. If you were a civilian, what use would you have for that here? They're obviously for fighting, and only shinobi (sans certain special people) can effectively use Senbon in battle."

He glanced at her skeptical eyes. "I'm a wanderer dear. You don't think I would have survived traveling alone in the world with all the highwaymen it had without any training or protection, do you?"

Slowly, Haku moved away from him. "F-Forgive me. I acted too harshly."

He laughed. "Dear, other Nins have even worse reactions. You're a ninja, I cannot blame you for your reflexive responses."

She blushed. "I'm...not a ninja...yet."

The blonde smiled. "Ahh, still at the academy, or home trained?" At her answer, the grin grew wider, and he nodded in approval. "Damn good job he did. You're better than any genin I know. The instinctive walk is proof enough." He leaned on a tree. "Any chance your father got injured in a battle and these herbs are for him?"

She nodded.

A stiff nod. "Very well. Give him my best wishes. Forgive me, but I have to move now, wandering and all that." He walked back to the road and continued on his way.

When Haku glanced back at him, he had already disappeared, and she chuckled. "Interesting person. He's probably another one of those 'wandering ninja'. Who knew they would be so interesting?"

With that, she stood up and walked back to Zabuza, who had arranged backup from a certain old acquaintance to help in dealing with the two jounin and their teams.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto chuckled as he walked. "Haku..." He liked how easily the lovely name rolled across his tongue. Haku was a wonderful individual, a spot of virgin snow in a world of black ash. Very rarely in other universes was she a bad person, if ever.

His eyes steeled. "I won't let you die. I have only one chance, and I'll make it count." He moved faster, slowly accelerating, until he wasn't even a blur anymore, just the barest whisper of the wind.

He stopped at an empty shore, azure eyes scanning the waters. "Come out. You can't hide from me."

For a moment, it seemed that there was nothing there, then their weapons rose, multicolored armaments made from materials found only in the sea, then the wielders themselves.

Blue-skinned lavender-eyed sea nymphs stared at him in fascination, lightly armored and wielding swift weapons like scimitars and daggers, lithe bodies rippling tantalizingly with every movement, trailing watery ghostly filaments.

Multicolored-scaled Naga slithered across the sand, leaving trails much like snakes, though some could apparently turn their tails into legs, carrying long weapons, from spears, to tridents, to bardiches.

Last of all, the mermaids. Similarly scaled like the Naga, from the midriff and up, they could have passed for humans without the scales, if with unusually thick and long hair and strange eyes, but downward on, they had tails of fish, strong and powerful enough to make them outrun sharks or barracudas. The moment they stepped onto dry land though, their tails changed, splitting into two scaled legs. Some almost stumbled from the sudden transformation, but quickly recovered, unsheathing heavy melee weapons like broadswords and axes. Amazons of the sea they were, after all.

He smiled at them, very slight and nostalgic, as if seeing an old friend. He bowed deeply. "An honor to meet you all. It appears that the treaty is still in effect?"

Merpeople and Nagan eyes narrowed, and some spined Nagas bristled said spines.

"We're not like your kind human. We honor our agreements." The voice all but thundered across the shore, and Naruto looked up to the largest of the Naga, twenty-five feet long from tailtip to head, with pale green scales and deep red eyes and hair. A female, magnificently so, if the large breasts visible even with the heavy breastplate was any indication. If she were to turn her tail into legs, then she would be fully seven feet tall.

"When we make contracts with someone, we damn well keep it." He glanced at the mermaid queen, the magnificent crown on her head betraying her position. Piercing green eyes glared at him malevolently, while shimmering cyan scales glittered in the sun, and bright blonde hair that reached down to her buttocks bounced like the waves with each step, a sharp contrast to the comparably drab bluish gray full plate she wore. Six feet tall she was, the greatsword she lifted in one hand with ease fully a foot longer than she was tall. Amazons of the sea indeed.

Naruto blinked when light blue arms circled his neck, trailing across his chest, even as something soft pressed against his back. A breath that had much in common with a refreshing ocean breeze ghosted at his neck. "When the other party breaks them though..." Her breath turned harsh, like the water of the arctic depths. "Not even the gods will let them escape our wrath."

The body faded away, and reappeared beside the Naga queen. She was two inches short of six feet, with the most intense purple eyes he had ever seen and long lavender hair that rippled like the ocean itself. She was set in a provocative position, the thin white gossamer dress she wore enhancing her figure more than hiding it.

She smiled, the smile promising the fulfillment of your wildest sexual fantasies if you pledged yourself to this female.

She was a walking temptation to man. Typical of a nymph queen.

He noticed he was staring at her chest, and with a supreme effort of will, tore his gaze off it. He noticed her smile at the effort it took him to do so. _'Damn. Resisting women is harder than I ever thought it would be.' _

"Speak your business human. If we like it, we might just let you live." The mermaid queen muttered, though it was loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"I wish to establish a treaty, possibly an alliance, between your races and mine."

The response was immediate.

The queens visibly recoiled, before brandishing their weapons, their subjects doing the same, growling and spitting at him.

He moved, suddenly in front of the mermaid queen, and before anyone could react, he grabbed her greatsword by the blade and thrust it at his neck.

It grazed the skin, but stopped short of piercing his jugular, and he looked the green-eyed queen in the eye, taking note of her shaking hands, which were struggling to keep him from plunging it deeper. Even now, he was still pulling at it. "Why did you stop me? With your response, I thought you were going to kill me anyway."

She growled, then wrenched it away without causing a fatal wound. She chuckled. "Fool. You're this intent on our attention? Very well. You have it. Tell me how you're going to be different from every other human we've met."

The Naga growled. "What are you saying Ymil? He's a human! Hasn't the years taught you anything about them?"

Something exploded, and they looked at the direction of the sound. A large tree had fallen, burning. It was ashes in seconds.

Naruto breathed out the last of the smoke from his mouth. "The humans of this world have forsaken many of the old ways. The new way they have taken, however, may be even more dangerous." He turned back to them. "They have turned into hunter-killers, assassins and thieves, with the power to call upon all the elements for destruction. What you have seen just now is a genin-level attack. An attack from the lowest tier of warriors they have. The next level, chuunin, can be likened to a lieutenant, if a lieutenant can ever be as powerful as a general."

He looked at their shocked faces, staring unbelievingly at the swift destruction of the tree. That much heat would prove fatal to a lot of them. "They have tens of thousands of genin, thousands of chuunin, and hundreds of even higher-level warriors that can summon beasts as gigantic and powerful as dragons. The best, are monsters in their own right. One I know can summon a god of death at will."

Faces paled. "I-Impossible! A god of death working for a mortal?" The Naga queen couldn't believe her ears.

His face hardened, and they found nothing but the truth in his expression. "I do not lie. This is what they have developed their art into. An alliance isn't just for us, it's for you too. Humans have always been suspicious of those not of their own species. Now, with your kind known only in the myths, your return will be welcomed with war."

The mermaid frowned. "If your kind has become so powerful, what need do you have for us?"

Naruto smiled, and gestured to the waters. "The ocean. So far, none have developed a way to traverse the depths effectively. Though on the land, you may be outmatched, on or in the sea, you are invincible."

The Naga smiled. "Exactly. We're invincible in the sea. Why would we need an alliance with your race?"

"So you no longer wish to step on land? Ever?" Naruto questioned.

The question shocked her, and she scowled. Her race was reptilian. They belonged in the land as much as in the water.

"He got you there Tamilis." The nymph jibed.

The reptilian queen growled. "Shut up Sareena."

"What is your decision then?" The Jinchuuriki asked.

The queens looked at each other, before nodding. "Very well. An alliance it is." Ymil answered.

One of his knives snapped out of his sleeve, and before they could say anything, he slashed open his palm.

Bright red blood welled out of the wound, falling to the ground in steady drops as he intoned in a voice that seemed to resonate with each word. As he spoke, something that they could only describe as a depression on the universe itself formed, with him at the center. "With my blood, I swear on my honor and my soul, that until I breathe my last, I will aid your kind, from any and all threats and difficulties. I will abide by the rules of the treaty, and may my soul be damned to eternal damnation of I go back on my word."

He finished, and it felt as if the world itself had stopped. The last echo of his voice came to an end, and the depression...lifted, leaving everyone with an uneasy sense of vertigo. By the time he was finished, the wound had closed, and he wiped the blood off with a handkerchief.

The queens stared at him. Tamilis gulped. "A blood oath?" Not just any blood oath. That was a blood oath as high and binding as the coronation of a great monarch.

"If this is what it takes to earn your trust, then it is but a small price to pay." He smiled. "Thank you for your time and patience. You won't regret this choice, I promise you."

Tamilis furrowed her brow. "What now? Do you introduce us to your leaders?"

Naruto's answer was a laugh. "Of course not! I have a lot of things to do before I can introduce you. A country to save, a rebellion to lead into victory, and a leader to knock out of an illusion. For now though, lay low, and avoid being sighted. Worry not. It will take but a few months. I will contact you for the meeting."

Slowly, they nodded, and a minute later, they were gone, as if they had never been there in the first place.

Naruto sighed deeply. His hands were shaking as they gripped the cane tightly. "It appears that even knowledge has its limits, and is not a replacement for actual experience." He frowned. "My plans...may be harder to put into action than I thought."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For Yakumo, the expected one week of recovery time for Zabuza passed away quickly. They spent the week either training for the battle, or guarding Tazuna (they took day-to-day turns), and entering the bridge at the end of the week, each of them were fully rested and ready for battle.

A good thing too, for Zabuza had recovered, if the dead workers were any clue. The fact that only a few had died and mostly everyone had managed to run away wasn't much comfort for Tazuna. Honest men had still died.

The mist spread around them, and someone laughed. Zabuza. "Ready for another battle Kakashi?"

The copy-nin revealed his sharingan eye. "I won't fall for your tricks again Zabuza."

Another laugh. "You're just angry you lost Hatake. I'll win again, and this time, your brats will be too busy to interfere. RAIGA, HAKU!"

Eyes widened as an even wilder laugh sounded, and a strange man wielding twin swords with curving protrusions on them rushed at them, electricity lancing across his body. He attacked Kurenai, forcing her away from the group.

Team Kurenai raced after their sensei, but the hunter Nin appeared, and a rain of Senbon prevented Yakumo from going after her. By the time she looked back, they were too far gone. The Kurama growled. "You'll pay for that."

The masked Nin silently prepared a senbon, even as Sasuke and Kiba surrounded her in a semicircle.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kurenai scowled as she fought Raiga, who was apparently one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and who was apparently far gone enough to talk to the bag on his back.

Crazy as he was though, he was still good, though noticeably not as good as Zabuza, as she could go toe to toe against him for a little bit. However, he was still good enough to make her students liabilities instead of an advantage, especially with how he could kill Shino's bugs with ease, using his swords like oversized bug zappers and Hinata being unable to get close to him and use her Jyuuken because of said swords.

The female jounin leaped at him, breathing out a fireball before taking out twin kunai, attempting to make use of the opening she spotted.

Raiga proceeded to spin, creating a small whirlwind of lightning that cancelled out the fireball and nearly ripping her apart if she hadn't dodged. A lot of Shino's insects weren't so lucky, and Raiga capitalized on this fact, attacking the Aburame.

Kurenai cast a genjutsu, one that would make him think that Shino and Hinata would be moving differently, so that the genins could escape.

It worked, and she charged, having added a twist that would make him think she was doing something else.

Instead, he turned, smiling maniacally, electricity crackling across his blade as it headed for her.

'_Darn it. Why is it that all these Mist Swordsmen seem to be so good at figuring out illusions?' _She thought, backpedaling.

It grazed her stomach, but even that was enough, as she yelled out in pain, crashing to the ground as the electricity coursed through her body, numbing her muscles and preventing her from moving beyond useless twitches.

Raiga laughed, studying her. "Nice. You'll make a fine burial Konoha nin."

"I think not."

Raiga jumped; and just in time too, for something silver slammed into the space he had been on a second ago.

The moment it touched the ground, the earth exploded, spikes of earth suddenly jutting out of the ground like some demented earthen porcupine.

The silver object was connected to some kind of cable, and it snapped back to its owner. By now, Kurenai had regained enough of her motor functions to move her neck, and she blinked at the sight of the strangely dressed man and the magnificent twin knives he held in his hands.

He smiled at her, and he was suddenly in front her. One of the blades disappeared, and he pulled her up from the ground, letting her lean on his frame when she almost stumbled. "Are you alright M'lady?" He asked politely, as if she was somekind of princess who tripped in a dance and not a kunoichi in a deadly battle.

She blushed. "Y-Yes."

The smile widened. "Good." And then, the knife was back in his hand as he faced Raiga. "Raiga Kurosuki, former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and wielder of the Lightning Fangs." He twirled the large knives with his fingers. "By any chance have you gotten over your obsession with burials?"

"Nope."

The man sighed. "A pity." The blade shot out from the handle, and Raiga barely dodged it.

The blonde swung the extended blade, and Raiga managed to keep it wrapped around his sword instead of himself, right before lightning lanced through the knife.

He swore, dropping the blade, and a clone of the man (she could still see the original him) appeared behind Raiga, cutting off the bag at his back and grabbing at something inside.

Kurenai blinked. No. Not something. SomeONE.

The clone held a small purple-haired boy, one who was obviously terrified at being held by an unfamiliar enemy. The clone jumped away, and Raiga swore once more, glancing at his discarded sword.

The original man smiled, before turning into smoke, and Raiga grabbed the now not-wrapped-in-chains Lightning Fang, running after the kidnapper.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yakumo gasped in pain, nearly falling to the ground as several more senbon dug into her body. She tucked into a roll, ending up crouched and breathing heavily. She glared at the hunter Nin, who had enacted the strange ice mirrors a while ago and now seemed invincible.

She glanced at her teammates. Kiba had tried drilling through, and had managed some success before he became the priority target. He was now unconscious, looking much like a pincushion. Sasuke, having achieved the sharingan in the moment of crisis, still wasn't having any success. The guy was just too fast.

"Give up. You know you're no match for me, and you're both out of chakra, especially with the stunt you pulled a while ago."

Yakumo scowled. She and Sasuke had almost managed to escape, with her using her powerful reality-affecting illusions to break several of the mirrors, Sasuke covering her during her casting. The chakra cost was huge, but would have been worth it if their enemy hadn't ceased using the technique and simply created another one around them. Now, they were too low on chakra to attempt another breakout.

A mirror shattered, and the foreign object that did so continued on, stabbing through a mirror at the other end, before a blurry figure leaped in through the breach, landing silently on the ground. The foreign object; a blade connected to a line, snapped back onto the guard, and the weapon seemingly disappeared.

The man casually brushed his clothes, as if removing dirt, and only then did he look at them. He smiled, a calm guarded smile that terrified more than assured. "Hello. I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The hunter-nin seemed shocked. "Y-You!"

He nodded his head. "Yes. Me. A pleasure to meet you again dear. Even if it isn't in a more..." He looked around him. "...passive, circumstance." He shook his head. "Unfortunately, I'm not here for pleasantries." He faced the hunter Nin. "Forgive me dear, but I have a country to save, and you're in the way."

The knives appeared in his hands, and he released the blades, spinning around wildly, and the long-reaching fire-chakra-endowed weapons crushed through the frozen mirrors with ease, destroying them far too fast for Haku to replace them, and she abandoned the jutsu, jumping away from the sudden interloper.

The blonde snapped the blades back to their hilts, smiling pleasantly all the while. "Any other tricks dear?"

"Just one."

The water around him moved, encasing him a sphere much like what Zabuza had used on Kakashi, before freezing.

The masked Nin fell down on her knees, breathing heavily.

"Well, that was unexpected."

Her eyes widened, and she looked up, seeing the empty prison, before she felt something collide with her cranium, and she fell into darkness...

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto picked up the unconscious Haku, a frown marring his features. _'It feels as if I'm stabbing a puppy, and then throwing it into a pit full of rabid rats. Forgive me dear, but this has to be done.' _

"Y-You saved us." Yakumo's voice interrupted him from his thoughts, and he glanced at her, seeing her weary visage and the Uchiha behind her who looked read to burst into an apoplectic fit for being saved.

He smiled tiredly. "All part of the plan Yakumo-chan." He moved, fading into the thick mist before any of them could follow or question him.

He ran, moving without breaking stride despite the thick mist, reliant on memory, and he stopped at a designated position. Two shadow clones appeared beside him, and he closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

They shot open, and he breathed out a powerful gale, even as the clone beside him was suddenly replaced with the clone that had Ranmaru in its arms, courtesy of a quick kawarimi between clones.

The wind continued, howling across the bridge, not powerful enough to throw large things into the air, but definitely powerful enough to blast the mist away; which was exactly why he had used it in the first place.

Zabuza blinked, before his eyes widened in realization at the figure in the strange man's arms. "HAKU!"

Naruto passed the unconscious ice-user to the other clone, crossing his arms lazily across his chest. "Hello, Zabuza." His gaze shifted to the right, where Raiga was growling heatedly at him, the Lightning Fangs vibrating with pent-up energy. "You too Raiga."

Electricity crackled across the blades, and the man let out an inhuman snarl of outrage. "Let him go boy, and I might just give you a quick death."

The clones pulled out their knives, letting them rest comfortably at their hostages' throats. Naruto wagged a finger at the two Mist swordsmen. "Behave you two, you don't want them to die on you now, do you?"

The two growled, but didn't attack.

Kakashi looked between the three, confused at the sudden interruption of his battle. "What's happening?"

A hand grabbed his shoulder, and he almost struck, before he noticed it was Kurenai. She had a finger on her lips for silence. "Wait, don't interrupt. I think he's an ally." She whispered.

He nodded, deciding to see how things will turn out.

"What do you want?" Zabuza muttered, eyeing the clone holding the unconscious Haku with trepidation.

The blonde smiled, the action resembling a cat's as it cornered its prey. "Your deaths. My goal is to save this country from Gato, and that can never happen with you two in the way."

Zabuza growled. "What? What makes you think we'll just give ourselves up like that?" He took a step towards Naruto.

The clone holding Haku let the blade prick her skin, drawing blood. Zabuza stopped.

"That is why. And though I could have just asked for you to abandon your mission or to bribe you to my side, I don't believe they will work. You are Mist-nin. You complete what you have been tasked to do, or die doing it. Bribes won't work and keeping you on my side through a hostage is just asking for you to make a plan to kill me while rescuing her." The azure eyes narrowed. "The only certainty is death."

The bandaged swordsman was shaking in fury, and for a while, it looked as if he was going to charge the blonde and damn the consequences. Then, he calmly let his sword drop. He sighed. "You're right. Promise me this though...you'll take care of Haku...alright?"

Raiga's proclamation made Zabuza's stomach clench in fear. "You think I'll just roll over and die just like that?" The lightning-user looked at Ranmaru. "I like you kid, I really do, but not enough to make me give up my life for you." He looked at Naruto. "I'll kill you boy, I'll kill you and make you scream while doing it!"

"Raiga, no!"

He ignored Zabuza's warning, and charged.

Naruto sighed. "I guess it was inevitable." The clone holding Haku moved, appearing beside Zabuza and handing the unconscious ice-user to him, which was the only thing that stopped Zabuza from slicing him in half. The real Naruto smiled at him, before engaging Raiga in battle.

The silver blades flashed into his hands, and he released both blades, funneling fire chakra through them and thrashing them around like whips, turning the falling rain into steam and the ground into patches of wasteland wherever the blades impacted them.

Raiga dodged the weapons with effort, landing out of their effective reach and throwing several lightning bolts at the blonde.

Naruto sidestepped the attacks, momentarily taking his concentration off Raiga.

The swordsman capitalized on this, as thunder crackled overhead and a lightning bolt slammed onto him, encasing him in a cocoon of energy. Grinning, he charged the blonde.

The Jinchuuriki sighed, letting the blades return to their hilts and meeting the lightning-user head-on, funneling wind chakra through his weapons to dampen his adversary's overwhelming advantage.

Raiga's blade slashed the air in an overhead swipe, and Naruto sidestepped, stabbing at the same time.

The other Lightning Fang batted it away, but Naruto swung his other blade horizontally. Raiga pounced away.

Giving his enemy no time to recover, Naruto turned the swing into a spin, and Raiga barely managed to block his attacks as he spun like a cyclone, his silver blades slamming into his at such a rapid pace that it turned into a single long note of ping-ing steel.

Raiga found an opening, and he stabbed, lightning encompassing his sword.

Naruto tucked into a roll, ending it in a crouch several meters away.

Raiga grinned at the blonde's impassive face. "You're good."

Naruto simply stood, holding his forearms in an X as he got ready to charge. "Let's finish this." The time for testing the waters was over.

The nuke-nin laughed, before indulging him, rushing the blonde.

Naruto did the same.

Blades flashed when they engaged, and everyone (Haku had been awakened by Zabuza) stared, transfixed, as the two fought. Sparks blew each time their blades met, their arms mere blurs as the two fought to the best of their ability, cutting and slashing, slicing and dicing, blood flying every now and then.

They spun, separating, and they gasped.

Naruto was pristine. Not a single hair out of place, and if it wasn't for the blood on his blades, he wouldn't have looked any different.

Raiga however, was full of cuts, blood welling from each one. As opposed to his earlier confident and bloodthirsty grin, he was scowling, and everyone could see his hands shaking. From fear or exhaustion, none knew.

"H-How?" He stuttered, staring at the blonde, putting his blades up in a defensive cross, absolutely shocked at the sudden rise on skill. Or was it that he was merely toying with him a while ago?

Naruto flicked his blades, throwing the blood away. He looked at Raiga, face guarded and emotionless, lips cut into a thin line of detached concentration. "None of your business." He attacked, moving faster than a striking cobra as his long knives parted the Mist-nin's defense in a flowing maneuver far too quickly for him to react against, kicking the nuke-nin to send him sprawling.

The knife exploded from the hilt, slamming into the surprised lightning-user's abdomen, passing through to hit the ground beneath.

The very earth exploded, sending out clumps of earth and causing multiple earth spikes to jut out like a demented porcupine's spines, impaling the swordsman in numerous places.

Raiga gasped bloodily, staring at Naruto's emotionless facade. Then he looked at Ranmaru's horrified face, rasping out; "Y-Y-You're...f-fre-ee. Now." His eyes rolled backwards in his head, and he died.

Calmly, Naruto snapped the blade back to its handle, staring coolly at the corpse. The blades disappeared, and he took the Lightning Fangs from its stiffening fingers, gazing at the swords' spotless edge. He looked at the corpse. "Beautiful, these swords are. And yet they are blades of war, which find their true calling on the bloody plains of battle." Lightning coursed through the blades, crackling with energy, charging the very air around them. "They've seen blood, and you want them to do so again." The lightning ceased, and he tucked the swords in an X at the back of his waist.

Naruto turned back to everyone. "Well, now that that's done, where were we again before I was interrupted?"

Zabuza struck, cutting apart the clone beside him with Kubikiri Houcho, before settling himself into a stance, staring defiantly at Naruto. Whoever this guy was, he had completely outmatched Raiga in battle, and someone like that was NOT someone to mess with.

The blonde raised an eyebrow at him, before chuckling. "Oh, of course. We left off at a rather ominous point, didn't we?" He disappeared, appearing in front of him just out of reach of the Zanbato. He raised his hands in a gesture of harmlessness. "As of now, whether you believe it or not, I mean you no harm."

The nuke-nin growled. "After what you just did, do you honestly think I believe that?" Naruto wondered whether he was talking about killing Raiga or asking for his death through Haku.

Oh.

Both.

Naruto took a step forward, well within head-lopping distance. "I have to believe that you'll believe that, if I am to trust you."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes, before shouldering his massive sword. "Alright, what is it that you want?"

The Jinchuuriki smiled. "Currently? To save this country through the elimination of Gato."

The swordsman frowned. "My mission goes directly against that, and I'll finish my mission, or die doing it."

The smile widened. "And that's where the loophole comes in. One of the few situations where a mist-nin will abort the mission is if the client betrays them, and that is exactly what Gato has planned from the start."

Eyes widened. "What do you mea-"

"So THIS is what the great 'demon of the mist' truly is? Can't even finish off a bunch of brats, a Cyclops, and some red-eyed whore? Pathetic!" Gato's nasally loud voice sounded across the bridge, and everyone looked with trepidation at the shipping magnate and the virtual army of several hundred mercenaries with him.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed in fury. "Gato! What is the meaning of this?"

The short man laughed. "I found your prices a bit high, and I thought; why not just let you tire yourself out against those ninjas and finish you off with this army of Ronins and bandits, which is so much cheaper."

Naruto's smile had turned into a full-blown Cheshire grin. "I told you. So, Zabuza of the Mist, how would you like to slaughter this insignificant buffoon and this patchwork group of idiots he calls an army?"

Zabuza's answer was to lift his sword and point it at the enemy. "Oh, I'll love it. I'll love it very much."

"Good." Something red appeared in Naruto's hands, and everyone stared at the twin weapons. Colored entirely; from pommel to the tip of the blade, in a singular hue of blood, they were intricate things, with an ornate ten-inch handle with a rough solid grip and two feet of elaborately carved wavy kris-blade.

He swung them experimentally, and the air seemed to blur and shift as it moved through it. He smiled. "Perfect." Then his face hardened, reverting into the impassive mask he wore against Raiga. "Let us end this." He charged.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Naruto's smile had turned into a full-blown Cheshire grin. "I told you. So, Zabuza of the Mist, how would you like to slaughter this insignificant buffoon and this patchwork group of idiots he calls an army?"

Zabuza's answer was to lift his sword and point it at the enemy. "Oh, I'll love it. I'll love it very much."

"Good." Something red appeared in Naruto's hands, and everyone stared at the twin weapons. Colored entirely; from pommel to the tip of the blade, in a singular hue of blood, they were intricate things, with an ornate ten-inch handle with a rough solid grip and two feet of elaborately carved wavy kris-blade.

He swung them experimentally, and the space seemed to blur and shift as it moved through it. He smiled. "Perfect." Then his face hardened, reverting into the impassive mask he wore against Raiga. "Let us end this." He charged.

Zabuza immediately followed, sword trailing behind him as he tore off the bandages on his face, exposing filed shark-like teeth as he laughed at the horrified faces of his enemies. He ran, moving past Naruto to slam into the throng with all the force of a raging bull, the impact sending multiple enemies into the air.

He swung his sword, and half a dozen enemies were bisected at the waist, and he cackled, reveling in their fear as he went into a killing frenzy, slaughtering all that went within range of his dreaded sword. All thoughts of him being the most terrifying thing they had seen in their lives disappeared, however, when Naruto finally engaged them in battle.

He moved like a wraith as he fought, their weapons never coming close to even touching them as he sliced with his blood-colored swords. Armor parted as easily as paper in the face of the red steel, and flesh opened so easily and so widely it was unnatural.

In a second, the eight men around him fell, many of them having been sheared through by the blade.

That wasn't what was so terrifying however.

It was what happened as they fell.

The blood from their opened bodies weren't falling to the ground like they were supposed to. They were rising into the air in thick spirals, revolving around the red blades like a scarlet aurora, seeping into the very blade itself.

The image was burned into everyone's minds. That of Naruto as the cut-up bodies fell around him and their blood drained into his unnatural swords.

When the mercenaries finally hit the ground, they were but dried-up husks.

A hammer blow of a first strike, if the catatonic expressions of absolute terror on the mercenaries' faces were any indication.

Zabuza laughed, the sound reverberating across the bridge. "Damn boy! You're just full of surprises aren't ya?"

A shrug, before the blonde leaped, landing smack-dab in the middle of the army. A wolf surrounded by sheep would be an accurate analogy.

He struck, his blade stabbing cleanly through a Ronin's thick breastplate, right up to the hilt.

He moved the quickly-drying up corpse, using it as a literal meat-shield to block the barrage of arrows from a ragtag group of archers. Done, he kicked it off the blade, slicing a bandit in half with the other, before going into a wild spin, decapitating the men around him.

A group of eight filthy Ronin rushed in to fill the gap, all of them wearing full battle armor and weapons (if a bit rusted and pitted).

He didn't give them time to react, slamming into one of them with all the force of a pouncing tiger, a blade buried deep into his heart. He spun, tearing out the lodged sword and cutting one at the waist in one swift movement, and blood rushed out from both wounds to circle both blades.

The other six narrowed their eyes in determination, rushing him, their blades held high.

He blocked all their blades with effort, and their eyes widened as their swords either cut themselves in half from the red steel's edge, snapped off, or cut themselves some new grooves. Making use of their surprise, he spun once again, his weapons cutting two lines on each of the Ronins' chests, and they gasped as their blood exploded outward, rushing around the red blades.

Naruto reversed his grip on one of his blades, stabbing it deep into a bandit sneaking behind him. He twisted, before ripping it out in a shower of blood that never landed even a single drop on his clothes.

He turned staring into the shocked faces of the mercenary army, his own utterly blank. He leaped, and he landed into the thick of them with his arms moving as fast as when he and Raiga went serious, scoring a dozen hits in a second even while still in the air.

It was even worse when he landed, as he started dealing out as much death as possible, cutting as many as he possibly could in the shortest period of time, as his swords virtually ripped out their blood from even the smallest of cuts, turning minor injuries into mortal blows.

Blood practically exploded around him, copious amounts that covered him in a miasma of red, and yet he didn't stop, wading into battle, his durable shoes crushing the dried-up husks that were all that was left of his victims as he slashed at the enemy, drawing forth gushes of blood as if a dam had been removed.

He spun wildly, and men screamed as arms were sliced off, midsections were bisected, heads were lopped off, and bodies ripped apart even as their liquid of life was torn from their bodies with even the smallest of cuts, draining them of strength and giving their opponent power.

He was like a god then, a god of blood as he walked through the army, dealing death with every slice, constantly surrounded by a fog of blood as his weapons greedily absorbed the red liquid.

This image was the breaking point, and from then on, it was a rout, and the Ronins and bandits tried to run away.

Naruto would have none of that, as he stabbed the blades into the bridge for use of his two hands.

Before even a single mercenary could escape, a gigantic stone wall rose out of the ground, barring their way. They turned back to the two terrifying Nin. The choice was obvious: Fight, or Die.

With the determination of a man seeing no way out but through the fire, they threw themselves at him by the dozens.

They died at his feet by the dozens.

So closely packed, they were unable to form useful defenses against his dreaded blades, and he slashed at them, satisfied with a single large (if not lethal) cut for each man, as the pain of their blood gushing out of their body was too much for them to operate with, and the blood loss was speedily fatal.

Vaguely, he heard Zabuza laugh wildly, and he shrugged nonchalantly, going back into the slaughter, for that was what it was.

When only half was left alive, some started jumping into the sea.

He took out the Silver Fangs and killed them with a lightning chakra-enhanced projectile blade.

When only a fourth of the original army was left, some started begging for their lives.

He cut them down.

When only an eight was still breathing, they had all but despaired, their blows sluggish and weak, without any conviction, as if they had accepted death.

He gave them death.

Finally, the red blade stabbed into the last mercenary's heart, and Naruto gazed blankly at his face as it turned into a skull with skin stretched tightly over it, the blood completely drained out of it. He kicked the man off his weapon, dislodging the corpse with a smattering of dust particles. "That's the last one." He muttered, turning and walking to Gato.

The shipping magnate was a mess, curled on the ground in a fetal position, crying his eyes out, screaming to the sky for salvation and soiling himself all the while.

Naruto frowned in disgust, both at the human and the smell. "Disgusting. Not even worth my blades." Said blades disappeared.

Someone grunted to his left. Zabuza. "I still think we should just kill him now."

Naruto chuckled. "Then who are the people of Wave going to vent their anger on? Let him live so that the villagers can try out their torturing skills. Who knows, one of them just might have some talent in the matter." Three would, actually.

Zabuza shrugged, and the blonde tapped the stone wall, letting it sink back to the ground just as the villagers came in sight, led by Inari.

Naruto smiled as he walked to them, and Inari yelled out in happiness. "You're alive!"

The smile widened. "I told you I'd save Wave didn't I?" Well, technically the shadow clone that had saved him and Tsunami did, but they didn't need to know that small detail. He looked at the mob. "Me and Zabuza have already taken care of his army." He gestured to the gibbering wreck on the bridge. "Gato's all yours."

Some gave confused glances at Zabuza. Wasn't he in cahoots with Gato?

The man shrugged. "He tried to cheat me out of my payment." His answer was accepted, and the people of wave cheered as they manhandled the short man.

Another Naruto leaped out of the woods, pirouetting in the air as he landed. He grinned. "Mission Accomplished."

The real Naruto smiled. "Good." The clone poofed into smoke, and he caught the watch before it could hit the ground. He turned to Tazuna. "I've got good news old man. My clone managed to sneak into Gato's house and take all his money. It's in the Wave treasury now."

The old man and several others in hearing range gasped in shock, and tears misted his eyes. All the money Wave had lost, and it was back with them because of him? Kami bless this man! "I-I don't know how we can repay you."

Naruto held up a hand in silence. "Don't. Focus on getting your country on its feet. We'll talk about old favors when the time comes." He spun on his feet, walking back to the Konoha Nins (the others had run back, so the two teams were complete).

"Not any closer."

He stopped a few meters short of them at Kakashi's insistence, looking at their guarded stances and horrified expressions. He looked evenly at Sakura, and the green-faced girl paled, shrinking behind her sensei. He snorted. "You think I'm a monster don't you? Fool. That is what ninjas are supposed to do. To lie, cheat, steal, and kill for money. If you're too weak-hearted to do all that, then choose another profession. Being a shinobi isn't an opportunity to catch the eye of a boy you like."

He stared the copy-nin in the eye. "And don't patronize me. The Yellow Flash himself killed thousands of men in a single battle, and he was a hero. Why should I be any different? The end result is the same: a lot of corpses. He just looked a lot cooler doing it."

"Are you a ninja?"

His gaze moved to Kurenai. He chuckled. "Oh god no. I'm merely a wanderer M'lady. A wanderer with a mission." He started walking, and the Konoha-nin flinched as he put a hand on Kurenai's shoulder, leaning in to whisper: "Take care of Yakumo and Hinata M'lady. I'd hate it if something were to happen to them." He continued, and Kurenai blinked, shocked.

He walked around them, stepping in front of Ranmaru. His expression changed, turning slightly regretful. "Don't hate me for what I did boy."

The purple-haired boy scowled, and tears threatened to flow down his face. "You killed Raiga. The only person that's ever been kind to me. Why SHOULDN'T I hate you?"

His face changed into a mask of impassiveness. "Because the alternative would have been worse."

"What alternative?"

"You think Raiga would have ruled that village he took over forever? No, burying people alive for petty crimes just made them all the more rebellious. They're collecting money you see, and in a few months or so, Raiga would have had to contend with hired ninja. He's good, but I doubt he can take on four jounin." A sigh, and he looked up to the sky, as if remembering a past memory.

He continued. "He would have died either way, but at least this way, you're alive. The four jounin would have killed you as an accomplice. So I think he liked this result better."

Ranmaru was livid. "What are you talking about? How would you know about all that, and what do you know about Raiga? You don't know him like I do!"

Naruto huffed. "Indeed. I don't know him like you do, because you don't know him at all. Tell me, what did you expect Raiga to do? To live as he did; terrifying a bunch of villagers for every wrong word, until he died of old age? No. Whether you like it or not, Raiga was a killer. He would have sought out enemies, and as a fact, he wasn't the best. One day he would have bitten off more than he could chew, and you'd die with him. And that is if the people he had under his thrall DIDN'T send ninja after him."

He shrugged. "As for how I knew? Well, I make it my job to know things, and trust me, Raiga thinks too lowly of the villagers to think that they'll ever go against him."

"But if you are so intent on my death that you will not see sense..."

Naruto threw the Lightning Fangs at the boy's feet, before raising his arms sideways, leaving his chest open. "Then do it, and let us get this over with."

Eyes widened with shock at this proclamation, and Ranmaru shook as he slowly lifted one of the swords, eyes wide at the suddenness of the action.

Naruto just stared at him evenly. "Do it, if you so dare."

With a scream, Ranmaru plunged the blade into Naruto's abdomen, and for the first time since they met him, his clothes were dirtied by blood. He choked, blood trailing down his chin.

Eyes wide, Ranmaru fell down on his butt, shaking heavily. "Y-Y-You...d-didn't d-dodge...it..."

Naruto smiled grimly, his arms steady despite the pain and bleeding as they grasped the sword, before ripping it out in a shower of blood. He winced. "Ow." He spat out some blood. "No. I didn't." A chuckle, one that sounded more like a death rattle as the seconds ticked by. "Tell me boy, does revenge taste sweet?"

The purple-haired boy couldn't answer, rattled as he was by Naruto.

The blonde laughed, a horrible sound. "It doesn't. Because it isn't truly revenge. Raiga was a warrior, and he wanted a warrior's death. I gave it to him. A man couldn't ask for more. By striving for my death in revenge of his, you are actually soiling his memory. No, Raiga wouldn't have wanted that. He would have wanted you to do all you can to get more powerful, to thrive in this world of blood that we live in as he did, if not more." One of the red swords appeared in his hands.

The blade glowed in an unnatural light, and the blood ceased bleeding out of him, blocking the open wound, before turning into new, unblemished tissue. He sighed in blessed relief. "I have told you the truth boy. Now it is in your hands whether you accept it like a man, or ignore it in favor of your delusions like a coward. Don't disappoint me."

The cane appeared in his hands, and it clacked against the bridge as he called out; "Zabuza, Haku. Let's go."

The two moved, slipping into the trees, but a voice stopped him before he could follow.

"Naruto?" Yakumo.

He glanced at his cane. _'Oh. Right.' _He chuckled, before slowly turning to face the Kurama with a smile. "Finally recognized me Yakumo-chan?"

She blushed. "You looked...different. And you only showed your cane now." Sasuke blinked at this statement.

The smile widened. "I guess you're right."

She pouted. "How am I supposed to repay you of you keep on saving my life?"

He chuckled. "How are you supposed to repay me if you're dead? Be careful next time. I didn't eliminate Ido just so that you can die on some random mission. Stay alive Yakumo-chan, and keep well." He leaped, backflipping as he disappeared into the foliage, simultaneously tapping the Lightning Fangs against his watch; having grabbed them somewhere in the short conversation, making them disappear.

A hand grabbed her shoulder, and Yakumo yelped. She looked up to Kurenai. "You know him?"

She nodded slowly. "He was the one who took Ido out of me."

The jounin blinked, her mouth forming an O, before she smiled. "Interesting man."

Yakumo blushed. "He is."

Kurenai chuckled, before her face turned serious. "Nonetheless, we'll need to know whatever we can about him. He's much too powerful to be ignored." She walked away.

Yakumo frowned as her sensei went to help as much as she could with Tazuna. "Naruto..."

Hinata however, ignored them in favor of gazing at the flora he had disappeared into in nostalgia. _'That voice...sounded strangely familiar...'_

Meanwhile, Ranmaru was in a state of turmoil as his beliefs warred against what Naruto had told him. _'Am I really soiling your memory by striving for his death, Raiga-sama?'_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The leaves ever so slightly rustled, and the two mist-nin turned in mid-jump, landing facing the direction of the sound.

Naruto slipped out of the foliage like a wraith, a slight smile on his face, cane clacking against the wood, and with a bloody hole on his shirt. "Did you actually think you could pull a fast one on me?"

Zabuza shrugged. "Can't blame me for trying."

The blonde laughed. "Indeed I can't."

The swordsman looked him in the eye. "What gives? I thought your goal was to save this country. You've already done that. What use do you have for us two?"

A chuckle. "That was one of my goals. I have many others, and the next one seems to coincide with one of yours."

The mist-nin's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Oh really?"

Naruto's gaze never wavered. "Tell me, when you fought Yagura during his coup, did he seem...addled?"

Zabuza frowned. "What?"

A laugh. "Oh, so you didn't know? Ah, of course, you never knew the man before his sudden change." The blonde's eyes twinkled in amusement. "Yagura, Fourth Mizukage. During his early reign, he was one of the kindest leaders to ever grace Mist, especially to the bloodline users. Shinobi education during that time was brutal, but fair. So why the sudden change in personality into a psychopath bent on the annihilation of the bloodline limits and inhumane customs of training?

"I'll tell you why: Because he's been mind-controlled. Someone has changed a benevolent leader into a genocidal maniac, and I'm going to put a stop to it." He finished.

The frown deepened, and the swordsman lowered his sword. "So you want to kill him?"

Naruto chuckled. "Nothing that barbaric. It's an extremely complex illusion brought upon by a man that just won't lie down and die. All conventional means of dispelling a genjutsu won't work, not even if you kill the one who casted it in the first place. Fortunately, I have a way that I believe will work."

He leaned against the trunk of the tree. "You probably don't know this, being on the run and them trying to keep it secret and all, but Kiri is in the midst of a civil war. Bloodline users have banded together to stop the Mizukage from slaughtering them all. Over the years, I have been providing the bloodline-users with vital supplies and critical intelligence that has left them relatively unharmed. Unfortunately, there's so few of them in the first place that they're still outnumbered four to one. Thankfully, their numbers are enough for what I have in mind, but the success rate will increase greatly if I have another one of the Seven Swordsmen on my side." He moved his arms in a placating gesture. "So, will you join me?"

The man huffed. "You won't stop bothering me if I don't, won't you? And I have a feeling you're a darn bitch to kill."

Naruto just smiled.

Zabuza hefted the sword back to its strap on his back. "So, to Kiri?"

The smile widened. "Sure, but would you spare a day or two? I have some unfinished business I need to take care of."

His answer was a grunt, as the swordsman trudged to a nearby clearing and sat with his back to the trunk of a tree. He was asleep in a few seconds, though Naruto knew he would wake up if someone so much as breathed wrong.

"How's your head? I hope I didn't hit it too hard."

Haku very nearly jumped into the air when he suddenly spoke to her. She breathed deeply, restoring some semblance of order to her jangled nerves before turning around and replying. "It's fine. It didn't swell or anything, though it throbs every now and then." She blinked at his expression, which was a façade of seemingly absolute concentration as he gazed at her face. She blushed.

Naruto blinked, before understanding. He spun on his feet. "Good, that's good to hear." He leaned against a tree, eyes closed.

Haku stared at the two warriors, before shrugging and sitting against a tree.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was well past midnight, in the hours before any hints of the sun would show itself, that Naruto came back to Wave.

He could see unconscious villagers everywhere, having drunk themselves to oblivion during the celebration of their freedom. A smile tugged against his lips at their happy expressions.

He shook it off, accelerating, slowing down when Tazuna's house came in sight. He faded into the shadows, and Ranmaru didn't notice him.

The purple-haired boy was sitting on the porch, looking at the moonlit sky, as if seeking answers.

"Have you made your choice?" Naruto voice really did make the boy jump into the air, ready for a battle, until he saw him. The aggression faded from him as water does in a leaking container.

"Naruto..."

The blonde smiled ever so slightly. "Well?"

"I've made my choice. No one was in the wrong when Raiga died. It was a battle, and he was bound to face someone stronger than him and die." He chuckled. "I guess that man was you, wasn't it?" A shrug was his answer. "Anyway, I know what I want now. I want to be stronger, I want to be more powerful. I want to be a ninja. A ninja that will make him proud."

Naruto frowned, glancing at the house. "You seek to go to Konoha?"

A nod.

The Jinchuuriki sighed. "That's not a good idea."

"Why?"

"Simple; you have a bloodline limit. One that can counter the Hyuugas', and quite possibly the Uchihas'. Even more, you're the only one of your kind. They won't let a valuable commodity like you go and die on some mission. No, they'll keep you in and make you breed more of your ilk, and only then will you possibly be allowed to risk your life, that is, if the Hyuuga doesn't have you assassinated before then. Trust me, I've seen it happen."

Ranmaru crossed his arms. "Then what do you propose?"

Naruto put a hand to his chin, as if thinking. "Well, you can always go with me. I'm aiming to stop the war in Kiri right now, and I'm sure you'll like to try out the same regimes that Raiga took, in the same village no less."

The boy laughed. "Saving a country, stopping a war? Do you always aim this big?"

"Nope. Sometimes I settle for crushing a small army."

They both laughed, and Ranmaru let himself be transported via shunshin. Raiga was right. He was free now.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A clone walked to the edge of the waters in the shore where the original had met up with the three sea races.

He brought out a bottle with a scroll in it, channeling all the chakra he could spare into the seal strapped to it before throwing it as far as he could.

The seal worked, turning chakra into the strange energy called 'magic' by the three races. The magic was like a bonfire, sure to attract anything sensitive of magic or of mystical make.

Sure enough, a hand lashed out to grab the bottle, and the clone squinted, before smiling in satisfaction when he saw it was a mermaid.

Said mermaid read the message, glancing at him when finished. He smiled at her. She nodded tersely, before swimming underwater.

"Mission Completed." The clone muttered, before dispelling itself.

Amachi was up for a big surprise.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was several weeks later when Naruto and his companions finally arrived at the fortress of the bloodline-users.

"We're here."

His companions; Zabuza, Haku, and Ranmaru, gave him blank looks at his proclamation.

"I can't see anything brat." Zabuza muttered, looking at the mountain they had traveled to.

The blonde laughed. "You have no imagination Zabuza-san." His face turned serious. "This isn't a laughing matter either. This will be the first time they've seen me face to face, and I have to make an impact on them if I am to convince Mei of my plan."

Zabuza stopped midstep, before slowly facing the Jinchuuriki. "What did you just say?"

"This is the first time they will have ever met me."

"What the fuck? I thought you've been fighting with them all this time?" Zabuza was livid now.

Naruto's lips curved into a very slight smile. "I said I was helping them. I didn't say I was fighting with them." He pointed to himself. "I'm twelve-years-old you dunce. Once they realize that, they'll figure out that for me to have done all that I did, I would have had to be able to acquire thousands of weapons and armor and have a spy network capable of flawlessly piercing the Mizukage's defenses when I was four. How believable is that?"

The three stared at him.

"So...did you actually have all that when you were four?" Haku tentatively asked.

Naruto smiled. "Of course."

'_What the hell is he? Some kind of nobleman hero or something?' _Were Zabuza's thoughts on the matter. "Naruto...that's just not possible." He said out loud.

Naruto bopped him on the head with the cane. "It is. I've done it after all, now let's go. You guys follow my lead and do your best to look intimidating in the few times you are seen. Haku, try some kind of sinister smirk. Ranmaru, bare your teeth in a smile that looks like you're out for their blood. Zabuza...umm, look like you normally do. Yeah, just like that. The glare's a nice touch. Don't look at me like that you three, I'm serious here."

Finally, after a few minutes of trying them out, Naruto had considered them as 'good enough', and was preparing for a wake-up call to the bloodline rebels that would make him unforgettable.

"Let's go."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Four chuunin and one jounin were posted as guards in the hidden entrance of the mountain.

It was an old gold mine, used probably centuries ago (so no one knew about it), and had been granted by one of their staunchest allies; a mysterious individual calling himself 'Maelstrom' that had provided vital intelligence that had turned the tide of battle dozens of times, along with providing weapons and armor of better make than their adversaries and countless other supplies.

The guards were alert, having multiple shifts that made sure they never got bored out of their minds and therefore, sluggish. So they noticed when the temperature slowly started dropping, and they could see their breaths form into clouds of vapor.

They readied their weapons, looking outwards for any sign of the intruder/s.

A titanic gale slammed them against the wall, knocking their breaths from their lungs. They struggled to move their arms, feet, anything, but the wind was so powerful that they couldn't even move a single centimeter. Even more unnverving was the fact that the wind was silent.

Four figures walked into the cave, and their eyes widened.

One was easily recognizable; Zabuza Momochi, with his gigantic cleaver of a sword. Another was a pale, black-haired girl, smirking ominously at them, while frigid air seeped out of her sleeves. The other was a small purple-haired boy, who stamped out any thoughts of him being weak with his bloodthirsty smile and the two blades in his hands that were easily recognizable as Raiga Kurosuki's Lightning Fangs.

The last one however, somehow seemed subtly more terrifying than all of them combined.

Naruto smiled at them, the cane digging into the ground in front of him, both hands on its handle. He looked ahead, as if the five ninjas were of no consequence to him, blatantly letting the guards recognize the winds as coming from him.

"W-Who are you?" The jounin asked, struggling to speak.

Very slowly, the blonde's gaze shifted to him, and he gave a squeak of terror. He smiled sinisterly. "I am the man, who will decide the victor of the war you fought so hard in." The winds slammed their heads against the walls, and they blacked out.

Naruto chuckled. "Let's go."

They moved, seemingly fading into the shadows as they went deeper into the tunnels.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The rebels were panicking.

Someone, or someones, had slipped into the base and was causing merry hell.

People were found down, but thankfully, not dead. However, this was ignored in favor of the fact that they had figured out where the interlopers were going at, which meant they could post some ready shinobi to fight the intruders.

Those were the good news.

These are the bad news.

From the trail the trespassers were going through, they were apparently heading in the direction of their leader; Mei Terumi. This put a very high chance that the interloper/s were/was assassin/s sent to kill her. An even worse part was that Mei was Kage-level, easily. So the assassins would have to match her level to stand a good chance of killing her.

The fact that there were hardly any signs of resistance from the knocked-out groups didn't reinforce their belief in the possibility that they weren't as strong as her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The shinobi sent to intercept the intruders waited with baited breath for them. Many of them were sweating bullets at the possibility of fighting such powerful enemies, and they were on a hair-trigger. They very nearly pissed their pants when a voice spoke behind them.

"You know, I was hoping you would at least notice me walking by you, but I guess that was just wishful thinking."

They turned around, facing a blonde man with a cane. Immediately, they readied their jutsus. The clones that had formed behind each one of them knocked them out with a quick rap of their canes.

Naruto sighed as the clones disappeared. "Pathetic. They have really got to start guarding their backs more."

Zabuza grunted as he and the others approached. Aw well, at least they were making good time. "Time to go."

Before they could move, however, small white projectiles shot at them, while a blue-haired figure jumped out of the shadows to slam a gigantic chakra hammer sword at them.

They dodged the projectiles (Well, the three dodged. Naruto just tilted his head to the side), while Zabuza knocked his own chakra-coated sword against the other swordsman's. A deafening boom occurred, and the two were thrown away, Zabuza landing on his feet while the other one ended up rolling across the ground.

Naruto's cane disappeared, and the Silver Fangs replaced it, blocking twin blows from two white 'rods'. With a thought, fire chakra blazed to life, and the enemy leaped away, abandoning the 'rods' as they were melted from the sheer heat.

Naruto took advantage of this, and a wave of one of the oversized knives sent a pulsing crescent of fire in the direction of the swordsman.

The swordsman threw himself to the ground, and the crescent passed harmlessly above him, slicing into a wall and turning it into slag. The swordsman gaped at the destruction.

Naruto smiled at him, before he burst into motion, blocking a continuous stream of attacks that could most accurately be described as a dance from his previous adversary. They were blurs, weapons and arms a vague haze as they moved at frightening speeds, parrying and countering, weapons slamming against each other in a continuous clamor of steel and another unknown material.

Naruto spun away, disengaging from his foe, face in the impassive mask of concentration that he wore whenever he faced a powerful foe. Slowly, he smiled. "I see your skills have grown...Kimimaro..."

Pale eyes narrowed faintly, and Kimimaro Kaguya, last of the Kaguya clan and wielder of the Dead Bone Pulse bloodline limit shifted into a defensive stance.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Naruto spun away, disengaging from his foe, face in the impassive mask of concentration that he wore whenever he faced a powerful foe. Slowly, he smiled. "I see your skills have grown...Kimimaro..."

Pale eyes narrowed faintly, and Kimimaro Kaguya, last of the Kaguya clan and wielder of the Dead Bone Pulse bloodline limit shifted into a defensive stance.

"Who are you?" He asked, glancing at the other intruders; a purple-haired boy, a pale black-haired girl, and a man that was most likely Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Bloody Mists.

Naruto chuckled, before pointing his weapon at the white-haired boy. "Now now, that would ruin the surprise won't it?" The blade fired, and Kimimaro stepped to the side, avoiding the projectile weapon.

"Then I'll just have t beat it out of you." The albino muttered, charging.

The smile on the blonde's face grew, and Kimimaro's eyes widened. He leaped, barely avoiding the projectile knife from earlier. _'H-How?' _He thought, disbelieving.

The blade was headed for Naruto, but at the last instant, it swerved to the right, circling the blonde protectively, its cable pulsing like a snake.

Kimimaro frowned. _'Wait. No. Not like a snake. Like a...river?'_

Naruto simply grinned, not revealing any secrets. He fired the other knife, while the first one zipped towards him, despite not being launched from the hilt.

The Kaguya dodged as best as he could, but it was hard. The blades moved as if they had a mind of their own, changing direction and avoiding his attempts to cut them off. He looked around him, and his eyes widened when he noticed how the circling cables had formed a rough sphere around him. _'Oh shit.'_

The Jinchuuriki grinned, before changing the elemental chakra in the blade into lightning, and tens of thousands of volts ran through the lines. With a thought, all that electricity was released through the porous outer coating, and Kimimaro screamed as he became the prime target of the released energy.

A few seconds of this torment was enough to knock the poor boy out, and Naruto immediately ceased the flow, the blades coiling back to their hilts on command. Something exploded behind him, and he looked at the source.

Zabuza had apparently been fighting the blue-haired swordsman from earlier, and the bandaged man had managed to hit his enemy with enough strength that he had been forced to let go of the sword or risk a numbing experience that would prove fatal otherwise.

Thankfully, the nuke-nin had followed his orders and had simply knocked the boy out.

"Feh. Not much of a challenge. He's good with the sword, but he hasn't gotten strong enough to wield it properly yet." He muttered.

Naruto chuckled, before he sensed a high-powered chakra signature approaching. He smiled faintly. "Get ready boys and girls. The real fun's about to begin." He glanced at Kimimaro and the bluehead.

They were gone.

He blinked, before realization dawned. "Damn."

A tidal wave of lava streamed out of the darkness, filling the entire corridor in red-hot liquid.

"Get to the wall." He said calmly, even as the Silver Fangs disappeared and chakra all but blazed forth in his palms, energy mounting to unnatural levels. It would have amazed any chakra-seeing individuals had there been any.

He slammed his palms on the wall, and a smooth dome of earth formed over them, just as the lava rushed by.

"Will this hold?" Zabuza growled out as the lava made sounds of melting and hissing that only served to make him feel even more uncomfortable.

"It's four feet thick, and it's not as if we're trying to block the flow. It'll hold." Naruto answered, and in less than a minute the lava ceased flowing.

Naruto breathed deeply. "Prepare yourselves. We're about to face a Kage-rank ninja." Haku and Ranmaru paled, while Zabuza developed a grim expression.

The blonde tapped the walls, and they shattered silently, then, he started walking towards the source of the magma flow. "I'll take care of her, you three keep the others busy."

Zabuza waved him off casually. "Sure, whate-did you just say HER?"

"Yes. Her. Why? Did you think all S-class ninjas are men?"

Haku grinned at this statement.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mei Terumi stared at the passageway she had just flooded with lava. She frowned. "Ao, use your Byakugan. I think they're still alive."

The eye-patched Nin nodded, activating the eye.

Something shot out of the darkness, and he leaped away. The object crashed into the ground he was on, and the earth exploded into a patch of macabre spikes.

He gasped, imagining the grisly death that would have accompanied it before Zabuza, Haku, and Ranmaru leaped out of the shadows, engaging him and the two other jounin in battle.

Mei turned, intending to help her aide when the projectile snapped backwards, disappearing into the darkness. She stopped, slowly facing whoever the wielder of the weapon was.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, and she tensed, until finally, Naruto walked into her line of sight, the Silver Fangs gleaming in his hands. He smiled. "Hello."

"Who are you?" She asked, readying to breathe a cloud of poison at him.

He chuckled, the sound unnatural in the bleak atmosphere. "That's the third time I've been asked that question. And like the others, you'll have to beat it out of me." His eyes twinkled in amusement. "Tell me however, how goes the war?"

She frowned. "None of your business." She breathed out the toxic mist from her throat. Her eyes widened when her adversary faded into nonexistence the moment he came in contact with the cloud.

A blade pressed itself against her throat. "You guys have really got to start guarding your backs." A chuckle. "But then again, I am just holding a clone." The knife cut through the jugular, and the clone dissolved into stone.

Naruto faced a blank wall, smiling. "Come out. I know you're there."

She slipped through the stone like it was water, and immediately let loose a stream of lava.

The Silver Fangs started glowing in blue and white phosphorescence and as the two colors mixed together, everyone in the room felt the air chill despite the approaching molten fluid. Face frighteningly nonchalant, Naruto swung the knives lazily, and frosty bursts of chakra erupted, slamming into the lava.

Unbelievingly enough, the bluish-white energy won, and the stream froze in place, covered in ice. Mei and everyone else stared in shock.

She frowned, readying another stream of lava, one that was doubly more powerful than the first. "Why are you attacking us?" She asked, deciding to stall for time.

"It's called a wake-up call. Zabuza, Haku, Ranmaru, get back here. It's done." The three moved, appearing beside him. He gave a radiant smile to Mei, the Silver Fangs disappearing, to be replaced with the cane. He bowed. "Forgive me for the rather...violent, intrusion. I was testing capabilities of your warriors." He eyed the ninjas. "I have deemed them...satisfactory."

Ao growled. "What are you talking about you scum?"

Naruto chuckled. "Is that any way to talk to one who has done so much for your cause?"

The busty auburn-haired woman glared at him. "As far as I know, the only thing you've done for our cause is to injure the soldiers."

A laugh. "I guess that is true. Very well, allow me to introduce myself. I am Naruto, but your cause knows me best as..." His eyes shone with amusement. "...Maelstrom."

A series of gasps heralded his proclamation.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Alright Ao, what do you think? Is he telling the truth?" The rebel leader asked her subordinate.

The man sighed. "I honestly don't know. He's hard to read. Very hard. The moment they were sent to the room, he just sat on a chair and started smiling with his eyes closed." He shuddered. "In all honesty, he frightens me. When I studied them with the Byakugan, he looked at me in the eye. I swear, as impossible as it sounds, he was looking at ME, not at the wall between us, me!"

Mei frowned. "That IS strange."

Ao sighed. "Maelstrom certainly is, and to tell you the truth, there's actually a big chance that he IS Maelstrom. You know how none of his information is faulty, and he said that we won't be found so long as we follow all of his instructions. Besides us, only Maelstrom knows about this place."

Chojuro, the glasses-wearing, blue-haired swordsman from before, stated his thoughts. "Yes, but the thing is, Maelstrom started aiding us eight years ago. This 'Naruto' looks barely in his teens to me. That would mean that he would have had to have been helping us since he was five, or something like that."

Mei sighed. "So he HAS to be lying."

The others nodded.

The door opened, and they froze when they heard the voice speak.

"Are you calling me a liar? Now that is just rude." Calmly, Naruto sat down on one of the chairs, his other three companions settling themselves comfortably on other seats.

The rebel leader narrowed her eyes. "Are you implying that you started giving out millions of ryo worth in weapons in supplies when you were five?"

The blonde chuckled. "Four. I am twelve, M'lady."

"That is rather hard to believe." Kimimaro stated bluntly.

Azure eyes gleamed as he started speaking. "Kimimaro Kaguya, last of the Kaguya and wielder of the Dead Bone Pulse bloodline limit. Approximately six years and four months ago, your clan wiped itself out in a meaningless battle, and you were the only one who survived. About three days later, an order from Maelstrom was sent to the rebels to save you, saying that you are a powerful individual that will prove to be an invaluable asset." He grinned. "I trust none of you have regretted my decision?"

The rebels blinked in astonishment. All that was accurate. But still...

But Naruto wasn't done. "About five years and two months ago, I sent information about a massive ambush that would have decimated your ranks. With it, you were able to reverse the situation and annihilate a large company of enemy shinobi. Then, just three weeks after that, I informed you of the locations of the last members of the Hyoton users. Three weeks after that, I located the surviving members of the Tetsu (Iron) clan. Three weeks later, I found where the last of the Hozuki were. This continued for nine more months, with me obtaining the locations of basically every bloodline user in Kiri and telling it to you every three weeks. Not to mention the data I gave you every time there's an ambush, battle, or opportunity for an ambush."

He crossed his arms, smirking. "Tell me, is there anyone else besides Maelstrom who knows about all that?"

Everyone stared in amazement at him.

"Y-You're really...Maelstrom?" Ao questioned, eyes wide.

The blonde snapped his fingers, as if he was a teacher and someone had finally answered a question after several hours of wrong guesses. He grinned. "Yes. That's what I've been saying all this time."

Mei gulped, and was about to apologize when he held a hand up for silence. "Don't. I expected as much. If I were in your shoes, I would have done the same. I have finally decided to show myself for a reason, and that..." His eyes narrowed to slits. "...is to end this war."

The rebels gasped.

"A-An end...to the war?" The busty redhead muttered.

Naruto's eyes gleamed, and he smiled. "Yes. Remember the masked man that showed up out of the blue and became the Mizukage's advisor?"

Mei and Ao nodded.

"Well, he's an illusionist, and he's basically brainwashed the Mizukage. And before you ask, no. Conventional techniques in dispelling Genjutsus don't work. However..." at this, he lightly traced the engravings on the cane. "...I believe I have found one that works."

"You believe, or you know?" Kimimaro asked.

Naruto gave a wry grin. "I believe. One can never be sure about anything." He chuckled. "But then again, that's how I felt with every other piece of information I gave to your cause, so here's hoping that I don't crap out now." He leaned back on the chair. "My plan is simple. We are to sneak a large force into the Mizukage tower, where the majority will hold the tower while our strongest fighters are to face the Mizukage, while I myself will take care of the illusionist. I believe caution is vital when fighting Yagura. Being brainwashed has done nothing to dull his skills. If anything, he's more dangerous now, having no qualms whatsoever to playing dirty."

Ao frowned. "How are you going to dispel the illusion?"

"One step at a time. The illusionist is the main problem, and I need to make sure he does not return to control anyone else. I simply need someone to keep Yagura busy while I do so. As for how I'll dispel the illusion..." He smiled slyly. "...everyone has his secrets, and I hope you can trust me to keep some of mine."

Ao sighed. "Alright. But how exactly are we going to sneak a force large enough to hold the tower for the duration of the battle?"

The blonde threw a scroll at him, and he opened it to find details for every structure for miles around the tower, along with information on the guards' shifts and routes. "Use that." He stood up. "I'll leave the subtleties to you guys. Zabuza, stay here. You're part of the Mizukage strike force; which is why I asked for your help in the first place. Ranmaru, if you still want to be strong like Raiga, I suggest you ask Chojuro for help. You wouldn't mind right?"

The sword-wielding bluehead shook his head no.

Naruto nodded. "Good. I want the plan settled in a few hours. Those blueprints are only accurate for a day and a half more, so we attack in a day." He stopped, blinking. He frowned, as if struggling to remember something. He smiled. "Ah! Of course. I almost forgot." With a flourish, he took out a large scroll from his watch. He threw it to Mei. "Take it. I believe you'll find my gift extremely helpful in your battle with Yagura. Alright Haku, let's go."

Mei blinked at him in surprise, and Haku stood up to follow him.

"I-I have a question..." Chojuro shyly asked.

"Yes?"

"Umm...how did you get past the guards just now?"

"It's called sneaking around. As for the guards outside? Well..." He grinned. "That's where the 'knocking out the witnesses and hiding the bodies' comes in."

The two walked out.

Mei slowly opened the scroll, and gasped loudly.

"Is something wrong Mei-sama?" Ao asked in concern.

Gingerly, as if the scroll was a prized artifact, she closed it. Her eyes were wide with shock. "It's the summoning scroll...for the Salamanders."

Gasps abounded in the room.

If the Densetsu no Sannin (The Three Great Ninjas) were lauded as geniuses, then Hanzo of the Salamander, who defeated all three in a straight-out fight in their prime in his middle-ages, was a living legend, and everyone who was anyone knew of his mighty summons; the Salamanders.

Ao looked at the door, then at the two scrolls, then at the door, then back again. He sighed. "Well, there's no denying it now. He's Maelstrom." No one else could acquire such hard to get intelligence like he could, and only he would give out fortunes worth in weapons like he did.

Zabuza grunted.

"Wait. He said hide the bodies. Where did he hide them?" Kimimaro asked.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh shit."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Did you HAVE to throw them in a septic tank?" Haku asked.

Naruto grinned. "Not really, but I was in a bad mood, and it doesn't do good to be in a bad mood when you're trying to be diplomatic."

The black-haired girl raised an eyebrow. He hadn't seemed to be in a bad mood. "So you vented your frustrations on them and locked them in a septic tank."

"Yup."

She sighed. "I'll never understand you."

"Good!" He said cheerfully.

Haku rolled her eyes.

"Don't die."

She stopped, blinking in surprise, before facing Naruto. "What?"

His face was locked in a mask of seriousness, the eyes cold as the arctic winds. "You won't be fighting the Mizukage, but the front lines are just as dangerous." He put a hand on her on her cheek, his gaze softening, and she blushed. He continued. "You're strong Haku. Strong as a chuunin, and you have the potential to be great when you mature. Right now however, you won't be able to take on a jounin without a big amount of luck."

His fingers stroked her skin, and her blush deepened. "I don't want you to die. So promise me; you won't take on someone you can't beat. That you won't take unnecessary risks in battle, that you'll live."

Very slowly, she nodded, and the blonde smiled. "Good. Now, I have a pleasant surprise for you."

He walked to a door, opened it, and guided Haku inside. "You aren't the last of your clan." He whispered into her ear, before closing the door.

Haku blinked at his statement, before she looked at the men and women in the large room staring at her. She couldn't help but notice the resemblance; the pale skin and midnight-black hair. Only one thing remained to be found out.

One of the women approached her. "Are you lost, little girl?"

Tentatively, Haku produced a sphere of ice in answer.

Their eyes widened, and several people cheered, others running to hug her and blessing the heavens for another clan member saved.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From outside the room, Naruto smiled, before pulling back his left sleeve and unsheathing his cane blade.

He made a cut, just a single small cut on his forearm that barely, just barely, drew blood.

Naruto sighed, sheathing the cane blade and bandaging the wound, before pulling down the sleeve. He clenched his fist, feeling the muscles move and respond to his order. He nodded. This was good enough. Hopefully at least, for what he had in mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the Land of the Sea, a red-haired head burst out of the waters, and similarly red eyes opened, studying the island aways in front of her.

Tamilis, Lord of the Nagas, frowned, squinting at the land mass. "Is that it?"

Another head rose up, this time with bright blonde hair and green eyes. Ymil the mermaid queen. "Maybe. Sareena has the map. Does anyone know where she is?"

Something grabbed onto the green-scaled naga, and Tamilis flinched.

"Did someone call me?" A sultry voice asked from behind the reptilian empress.

"Sareena..." Tamilis growled menacingly.

With a sigh, the purple-eyed nymph queen dislodged herself from the Nagan lord. She pouted, swishing her lavender hair to the side as she did so. "You're no fun."

Tamilis looked pointedly at Ymil. "Why did we include the nymphs in the treaty again?"

"...because we pitied them?"

Sareena glared at them this time, her cheeks a darker hue than normal, the blue-skinned nymph's version of a blush.

The subjects surrounding the three lords sweatdropped at the sight of their venerable leaders arguing amongst each other like little kids. Honestly, sometimes it seemed as if they agreed with each other only when there was someone else to disagree with.

Finally, after much bickering, Sareena finally let the other two look the map.

Ymil looked at the map, then at the island, then at the map, then back again. She nodded. "This is it."

Tamilis swung her halberd in anticipation, the mystical weapon humming with energy. "Good." She looked at the small army of nagas, nymphs, and mermaids. "We've confirmed it. That island is the one. Our warriors, you know what to do, and be careful while you're doing it. You've seen what the humans of this time can do. We must take absolutely NO chances. Understood?"

They nodded, before sinking back into the depths and heading for the island.

A large male naga remained, however. "My queen, you and the others didn't have to go on this mission. It is below your station." He stated respectfully.

The red-haired queen frowned at him. "That may be. But you forget. I and Ymil are warrior queens. We belong on the frontlines, while Sareena wants to see how different the humans of now are from the humans of then." She looked at their target location. "That, and I want to test my mettle against the hunter-killers that they have turned into. One way or another, I am sure to come into combat with their kind, and it will be extremely helpful if I get an idea of how they fight."

The male nodded, before diving below.

She looked at the other queens. "Let's go." She dove deep, her lithe form slicing through the water like a blade. She glanced to the side, where Ymil was easily keeping up, even with her greatsword, while in the other direction, Sareena simply ghosted through the water like a wraith.

"That human...he's an interesting one." The blue-skinned nymph commented, smiling.

Tamilis snorted. "By interesting, do you mean suicidal?" She said, remembering how he had tried to kill himself with Ymil's greatsword.

"You're too pessimistic." The cyan-scaled mermaid muttered.

"I have my reasons." The naga replied.

The green-eyed mermaid shrugged. "Still, if what he wrote is true, then it IS to our advantage to destroy this operation at once."

Tamilis nodded. "An operation for an aquatic ninja? If that's successful, then even if we don't go into blows with the humans if we introduce ourselves, we'll be left out of a job." They passed by their soldiers, and some yelped in surprise at their speed, but they ignored them, slowing down when they finally reached the place. She nodded at the other two, before slithering onto the shore, her surprised warriors rushing to keep up with their queen, just now remembering exactly WHY she was the queen.

Ymil and her mermaids immediately developed legs when they touched dry land, and they ran into the trees, blending in easily.

Sareena just chuckled, looking at her subjects. She smiled lewdly. "Do whatever you want to the humans. Don't hold back!" She winked, and disappeared. The nymphs smiled at each other, before they too faded.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An Oto (Sound) ninja, a chuunin, whistled as he walked his beat.

The trees rustled, and he looked at the vegetation, frowning. "Wha-?" He never even finished a word, an arrow lodging itself in his brain.

A mermaid walked out of the foliage, pulling out the arrow, smiling at the bloodstained coral arrowhead. She gestured to the trees, and the others walked out. Ymil nodded at her, and she grinned.

They heard footsteps, and another ninja, a jounin this time, turned a corner and saw them.

"Hii-yah!" Ymil took a running start, leaped and cut him in half. She spat disrespectfully at the body when she landed. "This isn't as hard as I thought." She muttered.

The mermaids stared at the two dead pieces that was once a man, before gulping. Thousands of years of sleep hadn't made their queen any weaker.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tamilis glared disdainfully at the cowering ninja before her, fully aware of the limp corpse of his friend speared by the halberd she held. "Where is the entrance, boy?"

He pointed a shaking finger to a section of the blank wall, and Tamilis noted the lines that indicated cut stone. It was good work for a human. If she didn't have eyes of a Naga, she wouldn't have been able to notice them.

A flick of her wrist sent the corpse stuck to her weapon splattering onto another section of the wall. She gestured boringly to the surviving ninja. "Kill him." He was barely able to utter a single syllable before half a dozen spears, tridents, war scythes, and other weapons pierced his body.

Tamilis slithered to the wall, studying it. She backed away, then stabbed it with her weapon. She pulled, and with a sound like steel being grinded apart, she tore off the door, the large chunk of stone she ripped off crushing several trees.

Dozens of ninja inside stared at her, eating dinner.

She smiled, and a wave of her weapon sent a torrent of water at the shinobi. The deluge slammed the ninjas against the wall, dazing them. She glanced at the opening, and a simple utilization of will prevented the water from leaking out.

She grinned at the flooded room. She dove in, and her soldiers followed.

What followed wasn't even a battle. It was massacre, plain and simple.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sareena laughed at the dead men surrounding her and several of her subjects, most of them killed through a single fatal stab or cut. "Men, they never change. They'll always think more with the brain between their legs than the one on their shoulders." All it had taken was to let them have a quick glimpse at a beautiful mostly-naked and vulnerable-looking woman before they lost all thought and followed them in the hopes of a quick fuck.

They never expected her and her subjects to walk through the walls and stab at the heart, jugular, and brains.

She stopped, tilting her head to the side, before Tamilis slithered into view from a corner.

The naga blinked at her. "How did you get here so fast?"

The nymph's response was to phase her hand through the wall. "Intangibility, duh."

Something slammed against another one of the doors, and they turned towards it, readying their weapons.

Nearly the entire length of a large sword; Ymil's, they noticed near instantly, pierced the iron door, bloodstained. The sword was turned, before being pulled back.

The two queens sidestepped, and the battered door was catapulted onto the wall. They looked at the doorway, where there was a corpse of man with a swordhole on his chest and Ymil with her armored foot still in the air from the kick.

The mermaid queen grinned. "Looks like we're all here." They could see her warriors behind her, all of them with bloody weapons.

"Intruders! Intruders!" The declaration came from a jounin that spotted them when he turned a corner. He had barely finished his second word before four arrows perforated his cranium. But the damage had already been done, the alarms starting their siren in the building.

"Well damn." Ymil muttered. She looked at the others. "They know we're here. Kill anything you see that moves. The only reason we haven't had any casualties was because we had the element of surprise in our hands. That's gone now, and we have to make sure none of them get to use any of their spells on us. You've seen how lethal those are."

They nodded, and they swarmed the compound.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Amachi growled as the alarms started blaring loudly. "What is it now?"

Several ninja barged in. "Intruders sir! They've infiltrated the base and are killing off the men!"

The doctor snorted. "It's your job to take care of them. Now leave me alone, I have vital research to finish."

"I think you might be interested at them sir."

Amachi glared at the man. "And why would that be?"

The ninja steeled himself for his statement. "They're humanoid but not human sir, and they can apparently breathe underwater, judging by one of the flooded rooms filled with our dead."

Isaribi gasped from her corner.

NOW he had his attention. "Lead me to them."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ymil rolled to the side, sliding across the wet ground. She came up jumping, sending several arrows at the ninja from the bow and quiver she picked up during her roll.

The ninja, a stocky man with average features and an unaverage proficiency for fire, dodged to his left, breathing out several fireballs from his mouth. Ymil threw away the bow and arrows, blocking the attacks with her wide greatsword. The heat licked at her sensitive flesh, and she gritted her teeth, activating the ocean magics in her armor and sword.

The glyphs on the armor glowed with bluish-white light, and the fires near her burnt out, overwhelmed by the magics of the forger. She yelled a battlecry, and charged. The man sent a crescent of fire at her, and she reacted by swinging her sword in a wide sweep. A rippling arc of radiant water burst out of her sword, slamming into the fire and erupting into steam.

Suddenly she felt the heat gather, and glimpsed the man firing another large outburst of fire.

Ymil gathered the shamanic energies in her self, scowling at what a waste of energy this was; Tamilis was the one who used overwhelmingly powerful attacks, she much preferred focused attacks. If it were only her, her armor would have kept her safe. Unfortunately, she had her subjects to worry about.

With a yell, a torrent water erupted out of her palm, nigh-instantaneously putting out the fire, rushing towards the ninja, filling even the wide corridor they were in to two feet above a man's head.

He jumped, and when he landed on the water, he stayed on top, instead of sinking, the ceiling high enough to let him stand. Ymil blinked, and he shot a concentrated wave of searing heat at her.

She swam away, her legs already a tail once again, and another use of her energy sent a multitude of spikes and blades of water tearing into him.

The pieces of his corpse sank to the ground. Ymil sighed in relief. "That was close. Too close." She glanced at her soldiers. They had been taken by surprise by the human, having turned a corner and instantly blasted a wide fan of fire at them while they were occupied with several others of the shinobi. Only the quick reaction of two shamans had saved their lives, as Ymil had been busy with four of them.

She glanced at several charred corpses. Even then, not everyone had survived. She winced. The human wasn't kidding. His kind had created an art that was lethal to any race that she knew. Even spirits weren't safe, for this 'chakra' that fueled their attacks actually contained spirit energy.

She looked at her subjects. "Let's move."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tamilis and her Nagas were having the time of their lives.

Of the three sea races, the Nagas were the most advanced in spellcasting (the mermaids' 'spellcasters' were shamans, who used spirit energy, and nearly everyone who used magic was a forger of weapons, while the nymphs were partly spirit, and so, tended to lean towards spiritual might instead of magical prowess, thought they DO have magic of their own), and many dreamed of a furious duel of spells with other races, and winning of course.

That was what was happening now, as a company of ninjas with proficiency for fire and lightning had been assembled and told to systematically annihilate the three groups of intruders, and to leave captured survivors if possible.

Nagan Ocean magics versus shinobi fire and lightning jutsus. It was a magnificent thing to watch.

Tamilis laughed, a gesture from her weapon creating a thick sphere of water that protected her from the explosion of fire from the hunter-killer she was fighting.

The shinobi, a tall reedy man with clothes of a fire motif, instead fired an intense fireball at her, hoping to pierce the shield.

The Nagan empress simply dodged the fireball, turning the sphere into ice and shattering it into multiple jagged shards. She pointed her hand at him, and the shards launched themselves at the man. He changed places with a chunk of stone, and proceeded to immolate his body in intense fires. He raised his arms, and the fires grew, until Sareena felt it even inside a new sphere of water.

She growled, and dropped the sphere, channeling energies into her weapon.

Nagas wielded more than just water, they wielded the powers of the ocean itself, and that included calling upon the frozen seas of the arctic for ice, the monstrous tornadoes of calamity for wind, and, the hardest to use of all for the sea-based creatures, the lightning of the storms.

Only the best of the Nagas could hope to make use of it given their watery nature, but Tamilis was THE best.

Power blazed forth from her body, encompassing the halberd, charring the very air she breathed, and the man faltered as his eyes widened. Ninjas could only hope to imitate lightning, creating electricity that was but a spark compared to the true power of nature's fury, and this was what he faced.

With a growl, Tamilis gathered all the energy at the tip of her halberd's spear-point, pointed it at the enemy, and let loose. Ninjas may be able to dodge the slower copies of lightning, but they weren't ready for the real thing, that is, unless they were capable of moving at the speed of light.

The lightning bolt slammed into him not even a nanosecond later, turning him into ashes in a second.

Tamilis grinned at her handiwork, before glancing at her warriors. They were victorious, with a kill rate of four dead ninjas for each one of theirs. The grin widened. Not bad work.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sareena was bored. As a fact, nymphs weren't fighters. That was the mermaids' job. They weren't spellcasters either. That was the Nagas'. They were tricksters, assassins, and seductresses.

The ninjas were all on alert, and killed anything they could see that moved, so it was pretty hard to trick them when they would shoot first and talk later. Falling on top of them for a lethal stab got boring pretty quickly after the seventeenth time.

So she had decided to locate the girl called Isaribi instead, the prototype for the aquatic ninja. She was pretty easy to find, especially when you have dozens of beings who could phase through walls and take a peek on the other side at your command.

She walked to the door that one of her subjects had indicated, deciding that it would make for a better impression if she didn't pass through walls like a ghost. Having blue skin was strange as it was for the humans already. She opened the door, and there was the experiment; a scruffy-looking girl with purple hair and covered in bandages where apparently the scales were permanent.

Isaribi's eyes widened when the door opened. _'Have the intruders been taken care of already?' _It came as a shock to her when instead of Amachi, a blue-skinned woman came striding in wearing an outrageously indecent dress.

"Hello there little girl." Sareena greeted, kneeling on one leg in front of the girl, keeping the seductive purr out of her voice. "A friend of mine asked me and my friends to save you." She extended a hand. "How would you like to get out of this hellhole?"


	6. Chapter 6

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Hello there little girl." Sareena greeted, kneeling on one leg in front of the girl, keeping the seductive purr out of her voice. "A friend of mine asked me and my friends to save you." She extended a hand. "How would you like to get out of this hellhole?"

Isaribi's reaction wasn't a surprise.

The girl's eyes had widened to dinner plates when she mentioned freedom, but she shook her head instantly in an effort to get the thought out of her head. "No! I can't!" She looked at herself. "I can't go back. Not looking like _this. _Amachi promised that he'd turn me back to normal if I continue doing what he said. Just a few months more..." She trailed off.

The blue-skinned nymph sighed. Naruto had warned them about this in the letter. Fortunately, she had already figured out a plan for getting the lies out of her head. She grabbed the girl's arm. "There's something you need to know about that promise girl, and I know whose mouth should be the one to tell you." She pulled the girl to the wall, and the girl screamed as they passed through it. The sound didn't cease or lower as she proceeded to go in a straight line, which meant even more walls and intangibility.

The nymph queen giggled. It always cracked her up how queasy humans were.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tamilis growled when she saw the human approach. The slick hair, the glasses, the white lab coat, the disturbing grin on his face and the unsettling way in which he looked at her? Oh yes, this was Amachi, a regular mad scientist, just like those crazy fanatics of that order that wanted to make a species made up of pieces from every race in the world.

Ymil settled into a stance, her armor and weapons pulsing with light. "I presume that is Amachi?" The naga queen nodded, and the sword started emitting ghostly trails of blue. Yeah, Ymil was pissed. The blonde mermaid had a particular hatred for anyone resembling mad scientists. Honestly, they should have had more common sense than to try to cut off her hair for their creation.

Amachi's grin widened. "Ah, so you know me." He put a hand on his chin. "I wonder, who would have given you information to my whereabouts, hmm?" Ymil screamed, a horrifying screeching sound of hate and rage that rung across the corridor and ruptured any non-seaborne ears in the vicinity. The ninjas hidden in the shadows fell from their perches, clutching their bleeding ears.

"Attack!" The mermaid queen yelled, charging at Amachi. The man's eyes widened, and he turned tail and ran, the ninjas covering his escape. The cyan-scaled mermaid growled, preparing to activate one of her armor's functions.

The men dropped to the ground, clutching their bleeding throats, and the nymphs appeared, shrugging off their invisibility. Sareena giggled at the humans' agony, and Ymil noticed the figure clutching to the nymph queen like a barnacle.

The green-eyed mermaid shook her head in exasperation. "Sareena, what did you do to the poor girl?"

"Hey, it's not my fault humans are so squeamish! It was just a few dozen walls or so." A human tried to sneak up behind Sareena, and the purple-eyed female promptly stabbed a knife into his head without even looking behind her, doing it so fast that the human had no time to react. "Anyway, what's more important is getting to that freak."

Tamilis slithered beside them, the green-scaled Naga's halberd dripping with blood. "Yes. Let's do that." She agreed. Their warriors could take care of themselves.

With that, the three sea queens, and Isaribi, who was more of a reluctant follower who had nothing else to do, went outside.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They found Amachi at the edge of the island, scowling heavily at them.

"Damn ninjas, they can't even do their job right. All that they had to do was kill most of you and leave some alive for experimentation, but they can't even do that." He muttered as they approached.

Tamilis pointed her halberd at him, the blood-drenched weapon gleaming in the sun. "Give up human. We've killed all of your men and we've got you surrounded. There's no way out."

Amachi grinned, pulling out a vial. "That's what you think." He pulled out the stopper and drank the mixture. When he finished, he dropped the container, convulsing, and scales and spines formed from his body, ripping apart his clothes as his body grew. When he was done, he now looked like a green-skinned offspring between a mutant frog and a demented fish. He laughed. "I have finally perfected the formula! With this, no one can match me underwater!"

Ymil developed a tick. "You honestly think that...abomination, can match us? You are more of a fool than I thought, human."

The newly-formed Kaima glared at her, before turning to the sea and jumping.

The blonde queen used the power she had been about to use before, and Amachi found himself separated from his legs as he fell into the water, Ymil having cut off it an unnatural burst of speed. His scream was cut off as he entered the depths. She scowled, and an application of her will sent the sinking mutant rushing to the surface, exploding out of the sea like a cannonball and landing limply on the island. The cyan-scaled mermaid promptly put her foot down on the man's back, eliciting a cry of pain.

Sareena approached the abomination, smiling sadistically. "Now, if you want to live, I suggest you turn poor Isaribi-san to normal here."

Any hope Isaribi may have had of happiness right then was trampled on mercilessly by Amachi's next words. "Turn her back to normal? Ha! As if I would ever do that. And even if I did, I can't! The experiment is irreversible! She's stuck in that form until she dies."

Sareena shook her head in sympathy at Isaribi. "I wanted to tell you girl, but you wouldn't believe me."

Isaribi wanted to cry out in despair at his proclamation, but a new problem arose when they felt the island shake, right before the sea erupted in a large explosion of water.

The liquid in the air didn't fall, coming together instead, even as more water rose from the depths, until there was a large vague blob of water much resembling an amoeba in the middle of the sea. If an amoeba was ever as large as a dragon.

Tamilis blinked. So THIS was the 'Umibozu' Naruto had mentioned in his letter. While the basic properties DID resemble that of an elemental's, it was hardly humanoid in shape. She chuckled, gripping her halberd tighter and channeling magic into it. If it was as similar to an elemental as Naruto had said, then they could handle it just fine.

She looked closer, and her eyes widened, before she laughed. "HA! This is actually easier than I thought!"

The green-eyed mermaid raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten us."

Tamilis pointed at the glowing core. "We came here expecting a fight from an elemental, which can basically go on forever if it has enough of its element. This one however, actually has an energy core! We just need to destroy it!"

Sareena looked up to said core. She crossed her arms. "And how exactly are we going to do that?"

The green-scaled naga grinned toothily, showing off sharp fangs. "I need a storm."

Ymil blinked, before realization dawned. She gave off a similar grin, and the sky above the sea rumbled, the clouds darkening. "I can do that."

Tamilis laughed, slithering to the edge of the shore, raising her halberd to the heavens, chanting in an alien tongue as old as the world. The storm grew, until the wind whipped her hair around her head and the sea was raging violently, spraying misty vapor onto their faces. Thunder rumbled high up in the black clouds, even as flashes of lightning briefly lit them up.

The chanting grew, and dozens of lightning bolts rained from the heavens, zapping onto her halberd. The mantra turned harsh, as if she was being electrocuted while she was doing so, and she pointed the halberd at the Umibozu, her weapon glowing so brightly that the others couldn't bear to look at it lest they blind themselves.

A shout of defiance, of fury and vengeance, and the wrath of the storm raged out of the red-eyed naga's weapon, crashing onto the Umibozu with force enough to level a village. The chakra monster bellowed, and it exploded into a million droplets, its core vaporized by the sheer overpowering energy of the lightning, and slowly, the storm abated, its job done.

Tamilis grinned, before guffawing like a madwoman. "HA! Eat that you son of a kelpie! We queens still got it, and we'll still kick you bastards' asses thirteen ways to Sunday! HAHAHAHAHA!" She finished, and she stabbed her weapon into the ground, leaning against it, drunk from victory.

Ymil just chuckled, while Sareena grinned. In all honesty, it was nice to know that your skills still weren't obsolete, and that you were still number one in the business.

Isaribi had never been more scared in her life. She had seen Orochimaru fight. Once, when an assassin had snuck in to kill him during one of his visits in the base. The poor man was good, she'll give him that, high-jounin certainly, but Orochimaru had completely destroyed the man within minutes. In fact, the only reason he had survived that long was because the snake had been toying with him.

This, however, was of a completely new magnitude. She could understand the destruction that ninjas could cause with their jutsus, but these three (or Tamilis ad Ymil, at least) had harnessed the very power of nature's lightning itself. The destruction of the Umibozu was mind-boggling, and just thinking about what kind of damage the attack would have caused on land told her very firmly that compared to these three, Orochimaru was a pushover, if not, pardon the pun, fish food.

Tamilis turned towards her, and Isaribi shrunk on herself. The Nagan lord put a hand to her chin. "Scrawny, and as far as humans go, you look unhealthy." She gestured to Amachi. "The bastard never gave you enough food didn't he?"

Amachi proceeded to insult them, but he never got more than two syllables before Sareena plunged a knife into his head. He was useless now, anyway.

The redhead shrugged at the corpse, before looking back at Isaribi. "There may be a way to make you _look _human again." Her face took on a note of seriousness. "But ironically, it means turning you into something that isn't human."

Isaribi didn't know what to say. Apparently, Amachi had been lying to her all this time, and he couldn't turn her back into a human even if he tried. On the other hand, these...women, knew a way to make her look like one, but it involved making her not human. She shook her head. "No. What's the use of looking human if I'm not one anymore?"

Sareena snorted. "Honestly, I don't understand why you'll want to stay one anyway." She gestured to the dead Amachi, then to the facility, where their soldiers were just starting to move out of. "Look at what this human has done to you. He turned you into a freak of nature, lied to you, dangled hope in front of yours eyes only to show it had been nothing but deception. And what was your life before that? It was horrible wasn't it? You must have been a poor beggar that no one bothered to help or feed, or else someone would have done something when you disappeared."

Isaribi's dejected face told her that she was right.

The nymph huffed. "See?" She looked her up and down. "And look at you now. You don't look human, and you never will be. If you've already taken a step into the unknown, why not take the full leap? We won't promise salvation and a happy life if we change you, but I promise this: it'll be better than the life you've had until now." She turned around, walking into the sea. "Whatever happens, it's your call. We're just here for a favor." She whistled to her nymphs. "Let's go girls! The mission's done and it's high time we got some down time!" The nymphs laughed and hollered in response, and they followed their queen, leaping into the water.

Tamilis and her nagas gradually slithered down the beach and into the depths, all the while talking and boasting of their exploits in the facility, while a water elemental the size of a house carried the dead bodies of the three races.

"Wait!" Isaribi yelled out, and Ymil glanced at her.

"Yes?" The cyan-scaled mermaid asked.

Isaribi gulped. "If you...change, me. Will I still be able to live as a human?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I believe so. All you need to do is to maintain your form, and considering that Nagas are reptilian, the most you'll need is a day's bathe to keep yourself from drying out." She shrugged. "So yeah, I think you can."

Isaribi looked down at her feet. She breathed deeply. "I think...I'll give it a try." She smiled faintly. "After all, it can't be worse than now right?"

Ymil smiled. "That's the spirit. Now let's go, before someone comes in and investigates all the explosions." Isaribi changed into her Kaima form, and jumped into the water, trying her best to keep up with the mermaids, who proved immediately that any human's attempts to make a faster swimmer was a failure.

Isaribi couldn't help but ask a question that had been plaguing her mind all this time. "W-Why are you doing all this?"

Ymil smiled at her. "Because an ally of us asked for us to save you. Tell me, does the name Naruto ring a bell?" Isaribi shook her head, and the smile fell. "Damn. I thought he was your friend, or something like that." She shrugged. "Aw well, we'll find out when we meet him again." She looked at Isaribi. "You wouldn't mind staying for a bit longer to meet him right?"

Isaribi shook her head no. "Of course not. If he's the reason you three are helping me, then of course I would want to meet him."

Ymil's smile widened. "Good."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The occupants of the meeting room were so startled when someone entered without permission right after Mei concluded the meeting that they pointed their weapons and readied their jutsus at the interloper, stopping short of attacking when they noticed who it was.

"Maelstrom!" Ao gasped out, putting back his kunai.

The blonde chuckled. "Please, call me Naruto. Maelstrom is but an alias." He sat down on one of the chairs. "I hope you have finished."

Mei nodded, and handed him a sheet of paper. He took it and read the file, raising an eyebrow. "A bit too many, I think. For one thing, Ao isn't a good candidate for combating the Mizukage, no offense."

The man blinked. "What?"

Naruto laid down the paper on the table, looking his square in the eye. "The Mizukage is a Jinchuuriki. To pierce one's chakra cloak, one would need either an overwhelming force or an extremely focused attack to pierce it. You have neither. If you cannot even make him notice you, then you would be redundant to the purpose of this team, which is to keep him occupied long enough for me to deal with the illusionist and dispel the illusion. It would be better to have you help hold off the ninjas."

Ao was about to lash out, but Naruto's raised palm stopped him. "Think man. I know you are devoted to Mei and wish to fight by her side, but you must understand. This battle is beyond you. You are completely outmatched by Yagura, and if you join, one of us will have to pick up the slack." Cold blue eyes narrowed. "Against a Kage such as him? That will prove fatal. I will not force you to back out, but please use your common sense before you make your choice."

The eye-patched man growled, shaking, but after a minute or so, he sighed heavily, slumping into his chair. "Alright. I won't be on the strike team."

Naruto nodded respectfully, before listing off others in the list. Finally, he handed the finished product to Mei, who blinked at the list.

"Don't you think there aren't enough members?" She asked. "Me, Zabuza, Kimimaro, Chojuro, and you."

Naruto chuckled. "Not at all. The function of the team isn't to defeat him, but to keep him occupied. Other possible members would be of more use keeping the enemy ninja at bay. Besides," he smiled at her "you are an S-rank shinobi yourself are you not? I trust you'll be able to hold him off long enough for what I need even without the others' help."

Mei blushed, but nodded, and the smile widened. "Good. Now, I suggest we prepare for the battle. We need at least half a thousand ninjas defending the tower while we're fighting, and I trust, that you have already chosen the ninja for it?" Ao nodded.

The grin widened. "You have? Then what are we waiting for? Tell them their orders and our plans, tell them that Maelstrom has joined the battlefield, tell them..." His eyes twinkled with excitement. "...that we are going to win this war." Emotion filled their faces, and they nodded, disappearing out of the room in shunshins and burst of speed, until only the blonde was left.

Naruto sighed, a tired smile on his face. He walked of the room.

He was stopped by Ao after turning a few corridors. "Yes?"

The man's face was serious, the eyes cold and stormy. "I've always tried my best to protect Mei-sama, even at the cost of my life. Perhaps it is only now that I've realized that I've grown old and that she's grown, and that she no longer needs me to protect her." He sighed. "Nonetheless, one will always appear who is stronger." He clutched Naruto's shoulder. "Promise me, that you'll protect her with your life. She's all that I have left. The daughter I never had."

Naruto nodded, his blue eyes like twin chips of ice. "I will." Ao prepared a shunshin, but Naruto grabbed his wrist before he could. "Haku means a lot for me and Zabuza. Keep her safe for us." The eye-patched man nodded, disappearing in a shunshin, and Naruto continued walking. "Protect her? I would have done it even if you didn't ask..." He muttered.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Madara didn't know how it happened. One moment, all had been peaceful in the Mizukage Tower, the next, enemy ninjas had poured out and killed nearly every shinobi in the vicinity in the moment of surprise.

He growled, walking towards the enemies and preparing to annihilate them.

Something clacked against the floor, and the sound repeated itself in a second, before doing so again persistently.

It wasn't a loud sound by any means, just a sound that kept on repeating itself, but that was exactly what made it catch his attention. How a sound like that was present in a battle, much less recurring continuously and somehow hearable despite the large noise caused by the battle of the ninjas outside and the ones fighting the Mizukage.

Slowly, he turned towards the source, and very faintly, he felt the barest hints of a shiver as he gazed upon the sight of a blue-eyed blonde dressed in a black Victorian suit (though he didn't actually know what it was) and holding a cane, gradually approaching him with an indifferent look in his eye, as if none of the men dying outside bothered him, or that the Kage fighting for his life not so far away was beneath his notice.

"Who are you?" The ancient Nin asked, frowning as his sharingan...yielded nothing. It was impossible! And yet it was happening. The all-seeing Eternal Mangekyo could not divulge anything about the strange man. He was a blank, a spot of nothingness in a world that yielded all its secrets to him. The faint hints of a shiver turned into a quiver of fear.

Naruto stopped. "Madara Uchiha."

The named man winced. There was something in the way he said it that made it seem as if he was trying out the name of someone from another language, or possibly, from another race. It was unnerving, as if someone was walking over his grave.

"Progenitor of the Uchiha clan, wielder of the Eternal Mangekyo sharingan, after your brother offered to you his eyes, second Mizukage, and the man who killed his own descendants in cold blood." The blonde closed his eyes. "A sore loser."

The last statement struck a nerve, and he growled once again. "What do you know about me? The title of Hokage was mine! Hashirama didn't deserve it, I did! And the Uchiha were mindless pawns of the village, it was practically a mercy killing!"

The eyes opened, and cold, cold, eyes stared unflinchingly into his own with a malice that was simply not human. Madara shuddered, and he looked away, sweating nervously. He couldn't use a single genjutsu on the man! How?

Naruto resumed walking, even as he spoke once again. "Because I am not normal."

The answer to the question in his thoughts turned his stomach into an icy pit, and the Uchiha Patriarch slowly looked back to the blonde.

The strange man (if he was a man) lifted the cane, and it disappeared. He straightened his arms, and pointed them diagonally to the ground. Twin red curving blades appeared in his grasp, two feet long, and Madara saw the air it cut seem to...black out, just like the man before him. He gulped. What kind of weapons were those?

"Madara..." He looked back to the blonde. "...tell me, how many mothers have died with their children's names on their lips? How many men have died to protect their wives and children? Tell me, how many have died because of you; a paranoid old man that feared the talents of others so much he ordered them killed?"

Madara scowled at him. "So that's what you are. Another man that thinks morality and honor exists in this world. It does not! All that exists is power! And men with power willing to take down all in their way to achieve greatness. Those scum were obstacles, and so had to be removed!"

The Jinchuuriki raised an eyebrow. "Children...barely even weaned out of their mothers' milk...were threats?" He shook his head ponderously. "You disgust me even more than I thought." He smiled faintly. "It seems...that I was not wrong in my choice. You do need to be..."

"...eliminated." Madara's eyes widened, just now noticing how close the blonde had gotten with his slow walk as he charged at him. For a moment, he considered testing out his intangibility against the swords, before thinking better of it. Unfortunately, a moment was too long, and despite his best efforts, the man managed to tear out a long gash from his side, despite the intangibility he was supposed to have.

Pain spread throughout his body like wildfire, enveloping him in shaking convulsions, and he vaguely saw with his sharingan his skin break away into strange particles that headed for the blades.

He turned off the intangibility to agony as blood that had been nonexistent before reversed or sped up their flow, heading for the wound; their exit point from his body. With an extreme effort of will, he clamped down on his body, forcing it to teleport away despite the convulsions, and for the blood to move as they should, not as the foreign force willed it to do so.

"A pity." He looked back to the strange man, who was shaking his head in what would count as sympathy on any other face but his unconcerned own. "You just had to survive the first strike." He moved, nearly upon the Uchiha in the first second. "Now I'll have to actually try."

His pain-wracked body was sluggish with agony, and he barely managed to evade the first sequence; a murderous series of stabs and slashes. The second one; a spin of death in red blades, he avoided by a hair's breadth. He leaped away, sending forth Amaterasu's black flames towards the blonde.

The man laughed, a cruel heartless sound, and he swung the swords lazily. With his sharingan, he saw numerous bright filaments burst out of the fire and sink into the red steel. This happened all the time Naruto was dodging the merciless flames, and in time, the flames weakened, flickering, before finally guttering out.

"W-What are you?" Madara asked, shocked. No one had ever found away to counter Amaterasu before!

The blonde's lips twitched ever so slightly upwards. "A wanderer, a general, a lord, a god? I do not know. I may be none of those and I may be all of those and so much more. An enigma is what I am. An enigma to even myself." There was subtle firmness in which he said 'god', and Madara's eyes widened at the implications.

The swordsman chuckled. "What I do know, is that I am going to kill you." He said it as a fact, not as a promise, and Madara quaked in fear.

Naruto leaped towards him, blades flashing, and Madara reacted as best as he could with his blood continuously trying to flow out of his body and into his enemy's swords. He teleported numerous times, usually where he thought the blonde would be vulnerable to attack, and Naruto responded instantly, batting away his attacks, usually ending up with him sporting minor cuts that only served as more 'gateways' for his blood.

Madara was panicking. His enemy was solidly the most terrifying man (if he was a man) he had ever fought. He was immune to genjutsu, his sharingan was worthless against him, he had a weapon that not only cut him even when intangible, but also tried to take his blood with excruciating pain, and if he could disperse Amaterasu, then the same could probably he said for other fires, which were second-rate compared to the black flames.

He teleported behind the man, kunai poised to stab into the man's neck.

Naruto batted it away with contemptuous ease, a kick digging into the masked Nin's abdomen.

Madara seethed as he leaped away. And that! Somehow, he always managed to counter his attacks!

Blood burst out of several of his wounds, and he gritted his teeth, willing his remaining blood to move as they should. The effort nearly made him collapse. As of now, it just made him drop to one knee, breathing heavily from exertion. He looked up to the man, who was slowly walking towards him, a frown on his face.

"Would you please just give up? This is taking too long, and I have other matters to attend to besides putting down a stubborn old man that just won't die."

The Uchiha Patriarch snarled at him. "Fool! You think you can defeat me? I am Madara Uchiha! You may have gotten lucky now, but that won't save you next time!" He prepared to teleport away when the blonde laughed.

It was a powerful laugh, loud and clear, and he could see the man clutching his abdomen from the pressure. Slowly, he recovered, wiping tears from his eyes. "Luck? You thought this was luck?" Another laugh, before the air seemed to drop to subzero levels. "And I thought being merciful was a good thing." He muttered icily.

What was once an empty void turned into a sun of energy, as colossal amounts chakra erupted from his enemy's core, spreading throughout his body until he had to turn away his eyes lest he blind himself.

"There was no luck involved you old fool." The swordsman muttered as the ground he walked on cracked and splintered. "I was holding back."

Madara gained a fleeting hope. He wasn't using his chakra? That must explain why he couldn't see what he was about to do! Maybe now it would work. He looked back to the blonde, and instead of a single image, he saw a hundred, a hundred overlapping images of the blonde man attacking, hacking and slashing, stabbing and killing, him.

He heard him speak beyond the images. "You are more of a fool than I thought. Tell me, what do you see with those eyes of yours? Ah, I know. Your death. Make your choice Uchiha. If even your famed Eternal Mangekyo admits defeat, what is left for you; a remnant of times past that should just die?"

Madara started making the handseals, and just as he started disappearing, he heard the blonde, that terrifying man's, last words: "I'll be waiting Madara. Come back, and I'll be here. I'll be here to cut you down, and not even the full might of the Akatsuki or the completed Gedo Mazo will save you..."

He would never return to Kiri again, not as long as that terrifying man existed...

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto breathed deeply, and he stopped flaring his chakra.

His body felt hot, feverishly hot, as could only be expected after all the movement he did while fighting Madara and keeping himself from sweating through an exercise from a long-extinct sect of monks. But it had to be done. Sweating meant that you were tiring and that you were actually putting an effort into something. Madara couldn't know that he was at his wit's end, that he was just a few steps from collapsing himself, and that in a few more minutes, HE was the one that would have stumbled. He had to make him think that he was playing with him, that he was tireless and that he wasn't even putting much effort and was STILL winning a one-sided battle.

He took a single step, and he almost tripped. "Blast. It was so much closer than I thought. A second more and the cat would have been out of the bag." His body shuddered, and he felt his head spin. Ah, of course. The chakra. The cane blade had the ability to nullify any and all unnatural abilities in anything it cuts for twenty-four hours. He had scratched himself to dispel his chakra and avoid the sharingan's predicting ability.

The ability sprouted from the sharingan's power to accurately read the chakra flow. Without chakra, it couldn't read your movements. The same thing applied to the images Madara saw. Chakra flowed according to your will, and in fighting, everyone usually had a one-track mind; as thinking of too many things (or having second thoughts, literally) generally got you killed, so they abandon that kind of thinking pretty quickly. The same was with him, only he forced his flow to move as if he was preparing to do all that at once. It was impossible, but the flow didn't know that, and the sharingan could read what the flow wanted to do easily.

That was final straw in scaring Madara shitless. For a man who prided himself in infallible eyes that could see the future, the sight of an enemy killing him a hundred times over was a massive psychological blow, not to mention the lie that all this time, he hadn't been using his massive chakra pool against him and had still basically bulldozed through him.

Naruto scowled as his body shook once again. A downside of all this was the backlash from having absolutely no chakra at all, to suddenly flaring his recovered chakra like he was a tailed beast. It was like asking a runner to break his record after a week of doing absolutely nothing. And even then, though he had inhuman amounts of chakra, it didn't come close to a bijuu, and he would have lasted a minute or two at the most before he ran out of energy. If that did happen, he would be unconscious while his regeneration repaired his body. As it turned out, his body wanted to just lie down and sleep for a week instead.

He shook his head feverishly. He couldn't sleep. Not while the battle was still taking place. Too many were counting on him. He tightened his grip on the Bloodsteel blades, and his body eagerly fed off on the wellspring of the blades' absorbed blood, while the spirit energy in the wraith hearts in the handles moderately replenished his depleted chakra pool. It was a patch job at best in recovery, but it would have to do.

He chuckled. Wraiths. Powerful otherworldly specters that could drain a hero of all his spirit and soul in moments. Weapons armed with parts of their bodies gained the ability to suck the spirit energy on contact or (if the source of energy doesn't have a proper physical shell, like fire from chakra attacks) just from being in close proximity to the blades. Madara's intangibility jutsu operated through turning the user into spirit particles. Visible yes, but being spiritual, only the most spirit-inclined chakra attacks would affect him.

As it was, turning yourself into a big mass of spiritual matter with no physical shell whatsoever was a big no-no when fighting someone with blood-drinking wraith-armed weapons, and Madara had to choose between two evils: being spiritual and having chunks of your existence taken out every second, or being physical and having your blood try its best to escape to your enemy's blades. Yeah, not exactly nice choices either way.

The Sanbi roared, and Naruto abandoned his thoughts, turning and heading for the massive battle between the strongest of the rebels and the Jinchuuriki Kage.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Yagura had been pacing back and forth in the Mizukage office when the rebels attacked.

All of the room's windows had been closed and shuttered, and the screams were the only indication of it to the occupant. He had walked to one of the windows to take a peek, and he had but a glimpse of a stream of lava as a warning.

Sanbi's two-tailed watery chakra cloak had sprouted instantly, and he even managed to activate several water jutsus to lessen the heat and survive the gout of molten liquid, breaking through several walls as he did so.

Something much resembling a localized explosion sounded behind him, and he turned just in time to be hammered by Chojuro's activated Hiramekarei. The chakra weapon slammed into him with all the force of a wrecking ball, and he was thrown away. He heard a sound like breaking bone, and his eyes widened. He crashed into Kimimaro, whose body looked like a caricature of a porcupine with all the bones sticking out of it.

Kimimaro winced when only a few actually pierced the chakra cloak, none of them giving a serious injury. He would have to change the density and sharpness again. But then, Zabuza appeared in front of him, and the chakra-covered blade rammed through the cloak like tinfoil, piercing Yagura.

The water clone turned into a puddle of water.

Several yards away, the Jinchuuriki had been preparing a water jutsu when the air changed, and he felt his water-based chakra armor bubble as if being heated. His eyes narrowed. Boil Release. Sure enough, his immediate vicinity was instantly covered in pale mist, and the sizzling chakra cloak crackled as the mist slowly ate away through the armor.

He changed the jutsu, and a large wave of water cleared a path through the mist. He gladly took it. He was welcomed with a water dragon that slammed him through several walls before stopping. He sprang up from the wreckage, and he hastily dodged the lava projectiles shot at him by the female.

Something moved at the corner of his eyes, and he took out the double-hooked metal staff strapped to his back, blocking Kubikiri Houcho's downward stroke. The impact made the ground he was standing on crack and shatter, and the two warriors struggled. Which would win: raw strength, or chakra-given might?

The outcome would be a mystery as Yagura moved the weapon to the left, and Zabuza had to jump away to prevent the hooked end from tearing off his face. The Mizukage leaped at him, bijuu chakra running down the ends of the weapon, piercing Zabuza. It was a water clone.

"Hiyah!" Someone screamed behind him, and he twisted, and blocked once again Hiramekarei's considerable force. This time, there was no contest, and he was flung away, skidding across the ground. Speaking of the ground, said ground suddenly started bursting with bone spikes, and he once again started evading. Several still managed to make contact with the cloak, and though the armor originally brushed off all the attacks, the bones started piercing it after the eighth time.

It was at this stage when Kimimaro burst out of the ground, and Yagura had to use all his wits to block his attacks, the bone-user being the skilled swordsman that he was. Slowly, Kimimaro got into a rhythm, and several attacks got through, cleaving through the chakra cloak, and Yagura decided he had had enough.

"Die!"

The furious scream from the Mizukage was accompanied by a massive wave of water that burst through the tower walls and erupted outside. The other three rebels barely dodged the attack. Kimimaro was unfortunately carried away by the current.

Mei gracefully backflipped away, landing lightly. She frowned. "Is it me, or has he gotten more powerful?"

"Nah, he just wants to kill us all quickly." Zabuza muttered, sending a water dragon after the Jinchuuriki.

Yagura batted it away with an even larger dragon, growling all the while like a wild animal. "You! You filthy scum! You dare show your face here?" Mei simply breathed forth a stream of lava towards the Mizukage, who countered it with a current of water large enough to dry up the lava.

Chojuro leaped at him from the side, already panting with exertion from swinging the heavy blade too much. He swung, and the heavy chakra-imbued blade caused everything within the vicinity to explode into shards, blowing Yagura away.

Meanwhile, Mei formed the corrosive mist once again, but instead of spreading it in a wide area, she formed it into a wispy spear. She pulled back her arm, and threw it at the Mizukage. He barely dodged it, but when the spear collided with the ground, it exploded into a large expanse of the corrosive mist, once again eating away at his chakra cloak.

Scowling he gathered a massive amount of water, before releasing it in all directions, scattering the mist into fine strips. The colossal current broke through the wall in multiple places, possibly washing away his enemies, but he doubted it.

The ground all but erupted, and he started dodging large monoliths of white bone as they shot out of the ground, activating his third tail. The ground stopped shaking, and he blinked several times at the sight of the forest of bone he was in. "What the hell?"

Kimimaro leapt out of one of the towers behind him, his face impassive as he struck with a large bone lance.

Yagura, with instincts honed by years of war, moved at the last second, and though the lance pierced the chakra cloak it only tore a gash down his arm instead of piercing a lung. With his other hand, he swung down at the bloodline rebel with one of the hooked ends of his weapon.

Bones sprouted from the ground, blocking his attack, and Kimimaro recovered, piercing his cranium with a short blade that popped out of his palm. The water clone turned into a puddle of water. Kimimaro raised an eyebrow, before leaping into one of the monoliths. Yagura was in the forest, he just had to find him.

Yagura was running through the forest, avoiding contact with any of the bones. That was how Kimimaro navigated, through touch. It was like the surface of the bones was also his skin.

Something flickered at the edge of his vision, and he leaped away, evading the water dragon. He winced at the droplets of water that splattered onto the bones. No doubt Kimimaro knew where he was now.

Sure enough, the bone user leapt out of another tower, one in front of him. He seemed surprised at finding him so quickly, but recovered quickly enough, and Yagura was forced to block the attacks as best as he could with his weapon. Then, Kimimaro did the unexpected: he abandoned swordplay, and simply grabbed Yagura's weapon.

Below them, he heard the same explosion-like sound, and Chojuro hit him full-on with Hiramekarei on his back, sending him crashing through a bone tower, sans his weapon.

Chojuro landed, immediately deactivating the sword. "Do you think that took him down?" He asked, glancing at Zabuza and Mei as they arrived.

The wielder of Kubikiri Houcho grunted. "He's at three tails already. That was just a slap to the face for him."

Then, the oppressive chakra increased once again, and Zabuza muttered; "Oh fuck."

The Sanbi, the three-tailed giant turtle, erupted out of the wreckage, its aura bringing despair to all, ally or enemy, and Mei frowned. It roared, and the floor cracked under its weight as it charged at them, moving with surprising speed despite being a turtle and its size. Then again, it was using water on the floor already.

They barely dodged, and the still-growing bijuu crashed through the tower, falling to the ground.

The four rebels looked out of the massive hole. Nope, it was still alive. And it was terrorizing the rebel shinobi.

"We have to stop it, or it'll wipe out everyone."

The four blinked, before looking behind them to Naruto.

"You're done with the illusionist?" Chojuro asked.

The blonde smiled tiredly, nodding. "Yes, but it took a lot more out of me than I thought." He looked at Mei. "Originally, I would have been able to take care of the Mizukage on my own, but at my current state, I need a distraction before I can get close enough to dispel the illusion. You think you can summon the boss?"

The redhead grinned. "Dearie, as you've said, I'm Kage-level. That includes the chakra pool, and I haven't even used all that much chakra yet."

Naruto nodded. "Then let's finish this war." He jumped off, and the others followed, Mei cutting her thumb with a kunai and casting handseals.

"Summoning Jutsu!" The scream was heard above the din of battle, and all of the ninjas and the Sanbi looked up as a massive cloud of smoke appeared in the air.

A massive red-orange salamander, fully the size of the now full-grown Sanbi, fell from the smoke, landing with surprising daintiness for one so large, barely making an indentation in the earth. It looked at its surroundings, and the water from the Sanbi that flooded the ground hissed and turned into steam just from being near the salamander.

On the salamander's head, Naruto raised an eyebrow at the oppressive heat, studying the 'cracks' on the skin that showed flowing orange, as if the beast had magma for blood. He chuckled. Lava element? This was a match made in hell.

He turned to the other three males. "Help our ninjas. This is a summon battle of the likes you've never seen before, and unless you've got a large summon in your sleeve, you won't help a bit. We need fire or lightning to fight Sanbi."

They nodded, leaping off the salamander to cause grief to the enemy ninjas.

"**Who has summoned me?" **The salamander's voice boomed, and Naruto blinked. It would take some time to get used to the vibrations the mere voice of massive summons caused.

"I have, your greatness." Mei said respectfully, and the eyes turned upwards, staring her in the eye.

"**I know of your name. Mei Terumi is it not?"**

"Yes."

The salamander huffed. **"I sense power in you. You are S-class." **It grinned. **"Good for you. I would have killed you if you were not." **Mei blinked, wondering if it was joking. It wasn't.

It turned back to the Sanbi, who was looking at it balefully. The grin widened. **"Sanbi? Ohoho. A great enemy for a great lord such as myself. And a great start for a promising summoner. What is your element girl?"**

"I have mastery over fire, earth, and water." She answered. "Lava and Boil too." She added.

The salamander's eyebrows rose up, before it laughed. **"LAVA? HAHAHAHAHA!" **It opened its mouth, and a massive gout of lava erupted out of it, hitting Sanbi like one of its own tidal waves, making it scream. **"I too am Lava! This cannot be coincidence girl! You are destined to be our summoner. Now, to battle!" **It charged, and Sanbi sent a tidal wave at the salamander.

The boss summon laughed, and its body heated up to unimaginable levels, though its occupants didn't seem affected. It bulldozed through the waters, turning everything around it into steam, slamming into Sanbi like another Bijuu.

The Bijuu roared in pain, and its tails slapped at the salamander, who winced with every hit. It opened its mouth, and even more lava streamed out than the last time, covering Sanbi in a thick shell of rapidly-cooling lava.

The boss summon backed away, frowning at it. **"I'm powerful girl, but even I cannot take on a Bijuu indefinitely. Do you have a plan?"**

Naruto walked into view. "We do." He looked to Sanbi. "I need to get close. The Jinchuuriki has been afflicted with an illusion, and I know of a way to break it and free him. He would be an ally without it."

The salamander raised an eyebrow. **"Illusion? The Jinchuuriki of the Sanbi has full control of his Bijuu. No illusion may work on him, not even the Uchiha's."**

"Not if it's Madara Uchiha."

The answer made the brow go higher, before it chuckled. **"Very well." **It heated up once again, and charged, just as the Sanbi broke through the hardened lava. It slammed into Sanbi, rearing up slightly on its hind legs and keeping the three tails from hitting it with its own tail and two hands. **"Go boy!" **Naruto started blazing with chakra, and both Mei and the salamander's eyes widened at the amount. _'Where in the world did he-/__**What the-?'**_

The blonde leaped, Bloodsteel blades gleaming in the night sky, cutting through the highest-level chakra cloak of the Sanbi with effort. The Sanbi screamed, thrashing and dislodging the salamander, but not Naruto, who was already well inside the Sanbi.

The corrosive chakra ate away at him, but his own flaring chakra gave him ample protection, while his Kyuubi-granted regeneration and the natural resistance to Tailed Beast chakra as a Jinchuuriki took care of the rest of the damage.

Half a minute later, all the while dimly hearing the muffled battle of the salamander boss and Sanbi, he managed to swim within range of Yagura, who appeared to notice him just now. Heh, a giant salamander summon boss was one hell of a distraction indeed.

The Bloodsteel blades disappeared, to be replaced by the cane, and he unsheathed it, three feet of the sharpest sword in the world gleaming in the diluted moonlight. Yagura's eyes widened, as if he knew of the utter destruction Nullsteel; the metal the cane and its blade were made from, caused.

'_Don't worry. I'm not here to annihilate you, just free you. You'll thank me later.' _He swung the sword, and it cut through the heavy chakra with no resistance whatsoever, cutting a long but shallow diagonal cut from the right of his chest to the bottom left part of his stomach.

Instantly, the chakra he supplied to keep the form of Sanbi in existence ceased flowing, and the Bijuu collapsed in on itself, the two Jinchuuriki falling to the ground, the impact of their fall lessened by the waters.

Naruto slowly rose up from the wet ground, smiling despite all the aches of his body. He had lost concentration, and thankfully, the sweat had been washed away by the cold waters, so he didn't feel like a furnace anymore. He looked at Yagura, who was still on his back and staring at the sky like a befuddled little boy.

He walked to him, and the Kage just stared at him with the same puzzled look on his face. "You want to know what's happening to you don't you? You want to know why you did all you did, killing all those bloodline users when you only thought about their well-being at the start." Naruto bent closer to his face. "Remember the masked man? He's an illusionist. He put you under an illusion that made you do all that. And while you're not truly responsible for most of the deaths of this war since you've been brainwashed all that time, you are responsible for the deaths NOW. So get up on your butt and tell your soldiers to stop fighting, or are you not the Mizukage anymore?"

Yagura's eyes widened, and he quickly stood up. "ALL OF YOU! THIS IS YAGURA, FOURTH MIZUKAGE! AND I COMMAND YOU TO STAND DOWN AND CEASE FIGHTING, RIGHT NOW!" The voice thundered across the city, just like how Ymil's did across the shore. This was the voice of a leader, and everyone obeyed, even some of the bloodline rebels, unconsciously.

Naruto grinned. "Tell them to gather in front of the tower. Mei will do the same, and we can settle everything." He put a hand on his shoulder. "And don't worry about the illusionist. I ran him out of town." With that, he walked back to Mei, who was approaching him on top of the boss summon.

"**That was madness boy. Only a fool would willingly enter a Bijuu's body. How did you survive?" **

The blonde chuckled. "Forgive me, lord of the salamanders, but that is a secret."

The lava salamander huffed, releasing a cloud of smoke and steam. It looked at Yagura, who was assembling his ninjas. **"I have fought the Sanbi, and not just survived, but won! This will be a great story to tell to the youngsters." **It looked at Mei. **"Summon my kin when you are in need girl, all of the Salamander Clan is at your command."**

She smiled, nodding. "Thank you..." She trailed off.

"**Yoteiou (Lava Emperor)" **

"...Yoteiou. I will bring honor to your name." She finished.

Yoteiou nodded.** "I know you will." **He disappeared in a gigantic puff of smoke, and Mei landed neatly on the ground.

Naruto gestured to her. "I suggest you get your soldiers gathered. Yagura's calmed most of them, but the next few hours are going to be tense, and the slightest problem will ruin everything." She nodded, and proceeded to call out to her own ninjas.

The blonde smiled. His head hurt, his body ached, and he could barely feel properly, but the mission was a success, and that was what mattered.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The end of the war had gone smoothly, as far as things went.

They had gathered the ninja, and Yagura had told them the truth; that he had been brainwashed by an illusionist, that the war had been nothing but a farce. Many had protested, but the quick application of Kage-level killing intent (Yagura couldn't use chakra yet) to remind them that this was a dictatorship, not a democracy, had them closing their mouths rapidly.

Now, all bloodline-users were encouraged to come out of hiding and come to the village, where Yagura himself gave personal apologies for all that he had done. Many would look unkindly at him for the seeming 'weakness' of what was actually politeness, but Yagura was a benevolent and honorable man, and he took all the deaths the war had caused, from both sides, personally, and the seething hatred he had for Madara Uchiha would make any ninja low S-rank or lower blanch.

He was also markedly indebted to Naruto, but the blonde had disappeared before he could even say thanks.

Currently, Naruto was with Zabuza, and they were terrifying the medics as they asked for Haku.

The poor medic in charge of the platoon Haku had been on sweated nervously as he looked between the two, wondering which one was scarier. Zabuza looked like he wanted to cut his head off, and he didn't even bother to hide his sharpening of Kubikiri Houcho with a whetstone. Maelstrom on the other hand, just looked grim, his lips a thin line, his eyes cold and unforgiving. He stood ramrod straight, his cane resolutely vertical as he grasped it in front of him. He looked at him like one would an annoying bug, and the man couldn't but feel like one, considering some of the quickly-spreading stories that he had been the one to take out Sanbi.

They knew Maelstrom had been a powerful figure, but not THIS powerful. And he was TWELVE! How fearsome would he be when he was an adult? Inwardly, the man thanked the gods he was on their side. But that seemed about to change. For him at least.

"I will ask once again, and if you do not have the answer, I will have to kill you for your incompetence. Now, where. Is. Haku?" Naruto muttered, the lack of contractions in his sentences putting him in a whole new level of terrifying.

The medic gulped. Oh, why didn't anyone tell him the girl Zabuza adopted and Maelstrom seemed to be fond of was in his platoon? He would have given more attention to her if they did, and he wouldn't be in the bleak situation he was in now. Honestly, there were rumors of Maelstrom wielding blades that sucked the blood out of you, and while rumors were usually fake, considering that it came from the purple-haired boy he was with, this might just be a true story, and he liked his blood in his body, thank you very much.

"I-I don't know...s-sir..." He paled when Maelstrom unsheathed the cane blade. _'Oh god, I'm gonna die!' _He thought frantically.

"Naruto! Wait! She's right here!" Ao's proclamation was all that saved the poor man, and Naruto quickly turned behind him, a smile on his face when he saw a battered, but alive, Haku. He let out a deep breath. _'She's alive. Good...' _He sheathed the blade with a snap, the line that separated handle from sheath not even visible, and proceeded to hug a surprised Haku for a few seconds, before separating and becoming the composed know-it-all everyone hated and loved.

Haku blushed, and Zabuza developed a twitch in his eye, but the medic was alive, and said medic happily slinked away.

Two ninjas appeared, kneeling. "Sir Maelstrom, Yagura requests your audience."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, before shrugging. "Very well. I already know Haku's okay anyway." He disappeared. One moment he was there, the next, he wasn't.

Zabuza couldn't help but snort. "Show-off."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A flicker, like an image from a bad TV, then suddenly, he was just there.

Yagura almost cut his head off.

Naruto blinked at the hook less than a centimeter from his throat. "Don't you think you're a bit too hasty?" He noted that he had yet to recover his chakra, and he was STILL that fast. _'I guess he's not Mizukage for nothing...'_

The Mizukage blushed. "Sorry, I'm a bit jumpy right now. Being brainwashed and all." He put the weapon back on his back. He held out a hand. "Yagura, Yondaime Mizukage." The blonde shook the hand. They separated, and Yagura bowed. "Thank you for freeing me from Madara. Much ruin has been averted thanks to you. I am in your debt."

Naruto smiled. "It was my pleasure. I myself have a bone to pick with the man." He waved to Mei, who must have been discussing something with Yagura before he entered.

Yagura raised an eyebrow, before grinning. "It lightens my heart to know he has a man such as you for an adversary."

Naruto grinned in return, before sitting down on one of the chairs. "Did I interrupt something important?"

Mei nodded. "We were discussing the opinions of the people. As you know, the war is officially over, but many still harbor hatred against each other. It's hard to just suddenly abandon years of anger, even with a man such as Yagura's charisma."

Naruto sighed. "I figured that would be a problem." He smiled. "Fortunately, I know some things that might help."

Yagura raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten me."

He was eager to please. "Hate. It's a fickle emotion. Easily fueled. But take out the fuel, and it dissipates quite readily. Easy in planning, nigh-impossible in application." The smile widened. "Good thing I have the resources for it."

He gestured to the window. "I'll be honest, and say that this is a poor country. The people only have the barest essentials." Yagura nodded gravely. "While your village makes fierce warriors, the lack of wealth prevents the families from giving birth to many children, and the village from making a lot of them, lacking the population."

He looked back to them. "I'm a rich man, and I wouldn't be lying if I said that I was the richest in the Elemental Nations." They blinked at this proclamation, and Yagura was about to object when Mei stopped him. This was Maelstrom they were talking about. Anything was possible.

Naruto grinned. "Hard to believe, isn't it? But it's true. And money isn't the only thing I have in spades." He steepled his fingers. "I have information. I have the dirt on many powerful figures, political and literal. Because of this, I myself am also a powerful political figure." The grin widened. "I am an enigma in the world of politics, an omniscient shadow that stays in the edges of their vision. In the world of politics, none is more dangerous than an unknown that knows your secrets.

"I am one that took his chances in sponsoring numerous budding businesses. I gave them the money to try out their wares and products in mass effect for a period of time. Do you know what made me stand out? I was giving them the money basically for free. If the business failed, I wouldn't ask them to pay me back, and if it boomed, only then did I get a cut from the profits. It was a substantial cut yes, but when they can start from scratch without losing any money if they were unsuccessful, then they would gladly leap to my banner."

Naruto's eyes gleamed. "All of the businesses I aided were successful. That is what makes me so terrifying. Dumb luck gets crossed out when you do the damn thing more than a thousand times, and never before has a man been so acute as to be correct that many times. It doesn't help that the spies are actually expected, treated to tea before being politely asked to 'fuck off.'"

Mei gulped. "A thousand successful businesses? How much if a cut do you have?"

A smile. "Half of the PROFIT."

The two stared at him. That much? He probably earned more in a week than a village does in a year.

Naruto chuckled. "Of course, several tried cashing in where I did, but I took care of that from the very start. The contract I have with my recipients prevents them from having any other sponsor besides me. Of course, some have tried infringing on the contract. But I mailed a warning to them expressing my opinion of violators just before they can commence. It's incredible how much simply knowing their exact thoughts can make them reconsider going behind my back."

He leaned on the chair. "All that makes me a figure many skirt around of. I will support your country. With the amount I earn, I wouldn't even get a deficit, I'll just earn less than I usually do. Your people will experience comfort, but not so much as to become lax, and in time, we will direct whatever vestiges of hatred to something else besides each other."

Yagura frowned. "I would be grateful for all that, but **I **am the one in debt. I cannot ask for more help."

Naruto nodded. "I know. So let me finish. With the clout I have, I can encourage people to trade with your country, and to think that your shinobi is a cut higher than others." He pointed a finger at Yagura. "YOUR role is to make that a fact. I can say all I want about your shinobi, but if they aren't as good as they say, then people WILL stop hiring you. Do you think you can do that?"

The Mizukage nodded, a determined expression on his face.

The blonde smiled. "Good. As for your debt..." His face darkened, and his eyes shone with cold malevolence. It was a sudden change, and it surprised the two greatly. "Konoha will be attacked in the upcoming chuunin exams, and I need your help to protect it."

Yagura blinked, before nodding. "For all that you have done and proposed to do? That is easily done."

Naruto huffed. "I know, that is why I have another favor." He held up a hand. "Do not worry about it. It is for another time, when the people of Land of Water have calmed, for I need clear heads for my proposal." He stood up, holding out a hand. "Do you agree to my conditions, Yagura?"

The Jinchuuriki of the Sanbi grinned. "Of course." He took the hand, and the two sealed the deal, all the while he thought: _'Incredible. So much power in the hands of one so young. What is he?"_

Mei simply stared at Naruto. _'What kind of man is he? To do all that he has done at such a young age."_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pein blinked when the space in front of him warped, and Madara Uchiha appeared, battered and bleeding.

"Madara!" He took hold of the man, keeping him from collapsing, all the while studying the damage. _'Multiple lacerations. He's bleeding heavily, but he'll survive.' _The killer of Hanzo frowned. _'That's not enough damage to make this man flinch.' _"What happened?" He asked, settling the man down on a chair. A glance at Konan had her sealing the room.

The ancient Nin shuddered. "Power, so much power..."

Pein blinked. "What?"

Madara looked him in the eye, and he shivered. He saw something in there he never thought he'd see. Fear. "All was going well in Kiri, then the rebels attacked. I could have driven them back, but then **He **came."

"Who's he?"

The Uchiha laughed, a broken sound. "You think yourself a god, don't you Pein?"

The god of Amegakure frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I think I fought one."

His veins turned to ice, and Pein winced. "Impossible. Gods are but legends. It is probably one who dressed up as-"

Madara shook his head. "He didn't dress up as Susanoo or Amaterasu if you're asking. And even if he didn't, he certainly seemed like one." He chuckled, another broken sound. "I couldn't see him Pein, I couldn't see anything about him. Genjutsu didn't work, and he made Amaterasu fade just like any other fire."

Now Pein was unnerved. Not even he knew of a way to wipe out Amaterasu. Contain it maybe, but not destroy it.

"I thought I could take him next time, since he caught me by surprise, then he showed me his power. He has so much chakra Pein! As much as the Bijuu, and when I looked at him, my sharingan showed me a hundred deaths. Not his, mine. I ran. I didn't want to die, and everyone knows the sharingan doesn't lie..."

Unnerved changed to scared. He looked at Madara, at the man who was his superior in battle, and thought about the being who had made him run with his tail between his legs. He gulped. "What do we do with him?"

Madara roared, the sound making Konan wince. "I'm terrified of him Nagato! And I hate it! I want to kill him, but I don't want to die!" He slumped. "It's just like when I was genin, when so many others were stronger than me." He grunted. "We'll save the Sanbi for last. Yagura's probably dead now, and that man either has the Sanbi sealed into another, or running around freely. If the Sanbi gets out of his reach, we'll take it. If not, we'll fight him with the entire Akatsuki and Gedo Mazo with eight of the Bijuu. For now, we stay under, and gather all the intelligence we can on him."

Pein nodded. If Madara was so frightened as to only fight with the entire Akatsuki and Gedo Mazo backing him, then information was indeed vital for facing this person. "Do you know his name?"

"No. But I know how he looks, and he stands out in a crowd. If he's visible to the public, we'll find him out easy." With that, Madara proceeded to describe Naruto to Pein. He may be indecisive in fighting him one-on-one, but he'll be damned if he gave up just because he said that he could take on the entire Akatsuki and Gedo Mazo.

Those two were his strongest forces, and if he COULD take on those two and win, then it would be better to die fighting than to live the rest of his existence in fear.

He was Madara Uchiha, and he had done too much to give up because of some arrogant, albeit really damn powerful, warrior.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Note #2: If you hadn't noticed it yet, Naruto's blades all have ten-inch handles, and the blades are one feet (Silver Fangs), two feet (Bloodsteel Blades), and three feet (cane blade) long.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama." Kurenai proclaimed, bowing to the Hokage.

Hiruzen smiled. "Good. There weren't any complications, I hope?" Kurenai visibly frowned, while Kakashi flinched, and the aged leader raised an eyebrow.

"Err...can we discuss it somewhere private, sir?" The red-eyed jounin asked.

"Of course." The Hokage affirmed, and the two told their genins to take the rest of the day off, which they eagerly accepted. Then, a quick shunshin had them in the Hokage's office, where an activation of the seals in the room made certain of their privacy.

The aged Nin steepled his fingers as he sat down. "Alright, what is the matter?"

Kurenai licked her lips, wondering how to explain. "A lot of things. It all started when we were attacked by a pair of chuunin nuke-nins. The demon brothers." The Hokage raised an eyebrow, and urged her to continue. "Our genins were able to take care of them, and with some prodding, Tazuna admitted the truth; Gato the shipping magnate wanted him dead, and had hired ninjas to do the job, bumping the difficulty of the mission to at least A-rank."

Kakashi spoke up. "We encountered Zabuza of the Bloody Mists."

This made the Sarutobi blink in surprise. "Zabuza? Well, now that is a surprise. How did you fare against him?"

Kurenai blushed. "We...lost, sir. He would have killed us both if it weren't for our genins." Hiruzen chuckled at this, and gestured for her to continue. "However, when our genins were about to kill him, a hunter-nin came and took the kill. We would later find out that the hunter-nin was an accomplice. We fought a week later, and that's when things got even more unusual."

Wondering what it could be, the Hokage prodded her. "Enlighten me."

"For one, Zabuza had called in help; Raiga Kurosuki. I fought him, and was losing, I admit, when we got unexpected help." She breathed deeply. "It was a strange blonde man sir. He wore strange clothes, the likes I've never seen before. He drove off Raiga, and took a hostage in the process, a purple-haired child that he seems to be fond of. The same was with Zabuza's hunter-nin accomplice. He asked them to stand down or else he'll kill them. Zabuza was going to obey, but Raiga apparently didn't care enough for his to do so. He fought the blonde, and he killed him, without a scratch even."

It was Kakashi's turn. "After that, Gato came, planning on betraying Zabuza and avoiding his paycheck with a cheaper army of bandits." He frowned. "The man and Zabuza killed them all, with two strange red blades that sucked the blood out of their bodies. In the end, Zabuza was no longer an enemy, as he didn't have cause to fight us, and he and the man left. The purple-haired boy, Ranmaru, disappeared later that night too. Also..." He looked at Kurenai.

She nodded. "Yakumo appears to have been acquainted with him before. She called him-...Hokage-sama?"

The Sandaime was grinning, eyes gleaming in amusement. "I believe his name was 'Naruto', I presume?"

She blinked. "You know him? Is he an ally, an ANBU operative perhaps?"

The aged Nin shook his head. "No, nothing like that. He is a friend, nothing more." He smiled at her. "You should consider yourself lucky Kurenai-san. He doesn't help just anyone. Doubtless, he probably had an underlying motive, but the fact remains, he came to help you. He's a rather...partial, individual. He cares only for those he dubs as 'who matters', and all but abandons those 'who doesn't'. Apparently, he thinks you matter." He chuckled. "Even I do not fully understand this...system, of his. But you have to admit, he is right in many ways. While I may sacrifice my life for any of this village, I would care more for a respected citizen than a beggar."

The red-eyed jounin frowned. "When I asked him if he was a ninja, he said that he wasn't, and that he was a 'wanderer'. What does he mean by that?"

Hiruzen smiled. "He means the truth. He is no ninja Kurenai. He is no man's mercenary, and yet, he is one of the most powerful warriors I know. He may not be a ninja, but he knows our skills better than most of us. As for him being a wanderer? Well, he always was an outgoing young man, disappearing for months or years on end. He's seen a lot of the world for one so young."

He stood up. "I request a more detailed account of the entire mission from both of you. He is a man who values secrecy, and I have said enough about him. Any more, and he might be displeased. That is not a good thing. If you are to ask Yakumo-san about him, you are asking her as a friend, not as a superior, she is to reveal only as much as she deems fit. Understood?"

The two bowed, disappearing.

He sat back down, chuckling. "Naruto...I wonder what kind of things you're doing right now..." He laughed. "I'm sure it must be something grand."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A roar, an ancient sound that could be heard for miles away that sent a spear of primordial fear into his heart.

Naruto stopped, his body shaking wildly, and he desperately closed his eyes, willing his body to calm itself. The shaking stopped, and he very nearly collapsed. "Fuck. I thought I was prepared. But this is so much more than I thought it was." He muttered as he started walking once again, clutching his cane for support.

He blinked as a rumbling sound resembling a rocket lifting off sounded, accompanied by a monstrous heat that would have had his body sweating profusely if it wasn't for that sect of monks' exercise. The blonde growled, before channeling wind and water chakra together, and felt the glorious cold of ice chakra cool his body.

He sighed, studying the large cave opening from where the heat had come from. He shrugged. "Well, no time like the present. I either do this now, or fail."

"Die foul beast!" The battlecry resounded from the cave, a shout of death, an unnatural cry of fury that he never thought he'd hear from another human being.

He peeked inside, and saw a massive fire dragon as large as a boss summon (when on all fours and excluding the wings) fighting six warriors terrifyingly grim in full-body armor that looked like solid fire.

Dragonslayers.

The entity's shockwave from twelve years ago had done more than just awaken beings. It had also caused hidden structures, ancient artifacts, and primeval relics to be revealed. One such structure was the Temple of the Dragonslayers.

People had studied the impressively preserved (the Dragonslayers may be a step away from being berserkers, but what they made, lasted for a long long while, almost as good as dwarves) artifacts in the structure. Sure enough, as some humans were wont to do, a group of people chose to recreate the order, and set about reconstructing the damn guild. And, as humans were wont to do, they succeeded, even rediscovering the ancient ways to create the armor and weapons of the Dragonslayers with perfect precision.

Unfortunately, they didn't translate the books as perfectly, and didn't know that they were to kill only evil dragons, not dragons of good; the kind that they were trying to kill right now.

The fight seemed to have been going on for a while, judging by the magnitude of damage in the cave and the wounds on the dragon.

Naruto blinked. No. It had only been going on for a bit more than ten minutes. The hell. Never underestimate the destructive power of dragons. He studied said dragon's wounds. Never underestimate the power of Dragonslayers either.

The fire dragon was losing. He saw it breathe more fire, and the flames rushed towards the six red-armored figures.

Heat that would have melted solid stone like so much wax was completely ineffective against the incredible fire Dragonslayer armor, and he knew that the temperature of the armor barely rose a degree or two in warmth.

The dragon roared, swinging a massive talon against one of the Dragonslayers. It hit him with enough force to send a hundred tons flying, but somehow, he only skidded a foot or two on the floor. He seemed to grin, somehow, despite his entire body being covered by armor, and he swung his orange-red hammer, which connected with a resounding crack against the dragon's forearm.

It howled in agony, scuttling away on its three limbs, the arm that had been hit apparently numb; from pain, actual injury, or another effect of the Dragonslayer arsenal, he didn't bother to find out.

The Dragonslayers took heart in this, several yelling out wild ululating screeches that were barely even discernable as human, charging with abandon, wildly attacking the dragon with their orange-red weapons, the sword, axes, and spear cutting through draconic flesh with no resistance whatsoever, while the two devastating hammers shattered bones that could withstand titanic forces into powder. It was a grand sight, one that showed the Jinchuuriki watching the slaughter understand just why exactly the Dragonslayers were so feared and revered.

"Enough!" He screamed, as the Silver Fangs blazed in white and blue light, the two colors mixing together into a cold radiance that made the warriors' attention focus onto him, if they hadn't heard him yell in the first place. They turned, just in time as he swung the blades, and waves of frost swept out, covering the Dragonslayers from the neck and below in ice.

"What is the meaning of this, you insolent cur?" The words were uttered in normal volume (unusual for a Dragonslayer, who usually screams his sentences), containing a cold depth of hate that Naruto found hard to expect from someone he had just met.

The blonde contained his shudder, and calmly faced the source: the man with the grand helm, the apparent leader. "You're making a mistake." He noted the magnificent greatsword he held, a sword shining with all the colors of the rainbow that was more a very thin and wide spike that tapered to a point than a sword. A Dragonbane Blade. By the gods, they had one? Much less actually found someone who could wield one?

The leader laughed, the sound coming out clearly despite the lack of openings in the armor, and the Jinchuuriki noted the madness in it, the certain kind of madness one found only in the Order of the Dragonslayers. "Mistake? What mistake is there in killing this beast? This is not about morals or justice or honor. This is about fulfilling the purpose of the Order. And that is to annihilate the lizards' wretched existence."

Naruto sighed. **"That **is your mistake."

The man seemed to blink, despite his eyes not being visible due to the armor that covered his entire body. "What?"

The blonde smiled, and he calmly took out a scroll from his person, before showing it to the man, whose eyes seemed to widen, despite the fact that they weren't visible in the first place. "Tell me, did you ever wonder why the writers of the books seemed to have such bad grammar?"

The man was shaking, seemingly...afraid? Relieved? A mixture of both perhaps.

Naruto ignored this, pushing on. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself, fool?"

The man looked at the dragon. "F-Forgive me."

The fire dragon blinked. "I...do not understand." It muttered, its rumbling voice seemingly making the ground shake. It probably didn't, but proximity to the dragon made it feel so.

Naruto smiled at the great beast. "Apparently, this was all a big understanding. This man" he gestured to the leader "didn't translate the text well enough, and thought that the purpose of the Order was to kill ALL dragons, when in fact, it was only to kill evil ones. So far, you haven't done anything to put you on the latter list."

The dragon huffed, and puffs of smoke wafted out of its nostrils. "I would kill you if I could, but your blasted armor prevents me from doing so."

"You could always just let them starve to death." Naruto suggested happily, and the men seemed to blanch, despite being covered in armor.

The dragon grinned. "Maybe I will."

"Yes, but unfortunately, if they die, the Order will send in more Dragonslayers, and some may not be as considerate or apologetic as this one here. You know how crazed humans can get in violent jobs. And we're talking about Dragonslayers here." The blonde added.

Another huff, before the dragon curled roughly into a ball. "You're right. Now get out of my sight you stupid Dragonslayers. I wish to sleep."

Naruto broke the ice, and the men were all too eager to run away, with the scroll that had the right translations of course. The blonde turned to the dragon. He frowned. "I saw you fight them. The armor made them virtually impervious to your attacks. I thought the legends were joking when they said they made men wearing them invincible."

A chuckle, one that shook the earth. "Legends have a way of turning out to be true."

"Are you alright?"

It opened an eye. "Why should I not be?"

"They may be crazy, but they're Dragonslayers, and the Order didn't survive for as long as it did because it was weak." He looked at the numerous wounds on it. "They did quite a number on you, didn't they?"

It sighed, the sound resembling more a rumbling avalanche than a sigh. "Indeed they did. To think, that you humans would find that blasted Order and remake it. You even rediscovered how to make the damn weapons and armor again!"

"You speak as if we were dangerous."

For a moment, the dragon seemed shocked at him, before it laughed, the sound shaking his bones. "Of course your kind is dangerous! Your kind has created the most inventions, founded the most Orders, birthed the most heroes!" It seemed to smile. "But your kind has also created the most weapons, the most counters to races, and the most villains. Any hellspawn that says humans are a weak race is a fool. We dragons were one of the greatest in existence; even devils stepped lightly in our territory, but you! Only your race had the gall to create an order made solely for the extermination of the evil individuals of my kind, and only your kind had the brains to make weapons for that very purpose!"

It stopped, breathing heavily. It glared at its wounds. "I will recover in a few weeks. You stopped them before they could get to much more than my arms and legs." It looked at him. "I am in your debt human. Though I hate to admit it, they would have killed me if not for you." It growled. "I hate debts. Tell me something I may do to even it out."

Naruto smiled.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Dragonslayers flinched when Naruto stepped out of the foliage.

The blonde blinked when the leader stepped up, removed his helmet, and bowed to him. "I am in your debt, honored warrior. If you had not stopped us, we would have broken the Code of the Dragonslayers."

The man had bland features; normal-shaded skin and brown hair and eyes, and yet, he could see that this man was far from normal, the brief glimpse of his eyes told him as much. This man was destined for greatness. A man with such fire in his eyes could have no other fate.

The Jinchuuriki understood. The man was a fanatic. He was utterly and completely devoted to the Order, so much that he had nearly had a heart attack finding out that he had translated the rules wrong and almost broke them. Such a man would react to any transgression with merciless judgement. On any other order, that would be a bad thing, but the Order of the Dragonslayers was a strange order, separate from society, with fair rules that had given them enough level of honor that the people would have tolerated them even without their prestige. It would be a good thing to have this man on the leader's seat.

Naruto chuckled. "All in a day's work man. Now stop it. It was what any other man would have done."

The leader straightened, and the blonde inwardly shuddered under the gaze of his fiery eyes. So much faith, so much devotion, so much conviction! He wondered how a man of his caliber had been drawn to the Order of the Dragonslayers. "I doubt that. Humanity is a flawed race."

He raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps, but we're the ones on top, so maybe we're the least flawed at least?"

The Dragonslayer grunted.

"It will be hard to find dragons you know."

The man stared at him, asking for clarification.

Naruto smiled. "Despite their size, they are good at hiding, being one of the best diggers in the world. They can also cast great illusions when they turn into their humanoid forms. While your armor makes you immune to all of that, you lack the numbers to scout effectively." The smiled widened. "I can find them for you."

The man laughed. "Unless you're omniscient or you have an unknown organization backing you, I doubt you'll do much better." Naruto proceeded to name several corporations and businesses, stopping at the twentieth. The Dragonslayer frowned. "What was that for?"

"I own those."

The single statement made everyone's eyes widen, and they understood who they were talking to.

The Jinchuuriki grinned. "So, do you still think I can't do what I said?"

The leader shook his head. "No. But I still have to ask; why are you doing this? What can you possibly get from helping us?"

Naruto turned around. "Dragons have been, and still are, a great power. I have a dream, and the evil dragons will be a big obstacle to that dream, for most of the good dragons don't really fight against the evil ones unless they actually meet, and the ones that do travel around fighting evil dragons are so very few. I will tell you where the evil dragons are, and you will kill them. I hurdle a problem, and you guys get to do your job. It's a win-win situation."

The Dragonslayer frowned. And Naruto froze when he felt his fury, a veritable sea of wrath dwarfing any he had ever felt before. His body and his instincts told him to run, to throw away all sense of thought in escaping the predator. He barely reigned his terror in. "Very well, but if I find out you've been using us for something debased, I swear, I'll..." He trailed off, and the feeling ebbed.

Naruto tried his best to sound convincing. "The thought will never cross my mind." He disappeared in a shunshin, appearing a few miles away.

He let out a deep breath. "Dear fuckin god. That man's a monster..."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been all so sudden.

She had gone to sleep at her usual time, and had woken up just in time for the kidnapper to slap a hand over her mouth to muffle her screams. He had been holding a handkerchief, one that had been doused in some kind of anesthetic that made her mind sluggish and her body limp and utterly incapable of movement.

He had tried to escape, but hadn't gotten all that far before Hiashi caught on to him. She had heard her father talk about how he was going to kill him painfully for this transgression, before something like thunder rang out, and she felt herself falling.

Her father had caught her, and a voice spoke.

"Headshot, success."

"Who's there?" Hiashi yelled out, activating his byakugan and looking for the threat.

A chuckle. "A sniper." The voice whistled. "Pissed ya can't find me? Well too bad. Don't worry, I'm not gonna kill ya. Your daughter's too cute to have her father die. By the way, if anyone asks who killed the bastard, tell them it was Fishcake. Don't say anything about it being weird, my mother was the one who chose it. See ya!" Something like leaves rustling against each other was heard, and they heard no more from the voice.

It had been an international incident. A diplomat from Kumo had been killed by an assassin by the name of 'Fishcake' through an unknown weapon or jutsu that punched a hole straight through his head. And yet, Hiashi had admitted that it had been a good thing, for if Hiashi had killed the diplomat, Kumo could have used the rules to get one over them, possibly even have Hiashi himself as a prisoner.

Hinata's eyes widened in realization. That voice! It was a vague resemblance. 'Fishcake' had a strange rough accent, while Naruto seemed like a cultured individual. And yet, if she deepened Fishcake's voice a bit and had it speaking the same way as Naruto, the voice was basically the same!

'_Could it be...that they're the same person?' _She looked at Yakumo, her best friend. "Yakumo-chan, I think I've met...Naruto, before."

Sasuke, who had been walking with them along with the other three genins, grunted. "Same with me." This answer made the other two stare at him. He rolled his eyes. "Follow me to my house. My mom will help." And so, with a goodbye to their teammates (Sakura was bit of a problem, but a pointed glare and order from Sasuke had her cowed), they set for the Uchiha district.

They were greeted by Uchiha Mikoto; one of the two survivors of the Uchiha Massacre, who happily invited them in for lunch and discussion.

"Alright, when did you meet him?" Yakumo asked after they ate.

Sasuke flinched. "During the Uchiha Massacre." The two girls gasped, and Sasuke looked at his mother. "Ask kaa-san. She saw him first."

Mikoto nodded. "As you might have been told, Itachi killed basically the entire clan. They probably told you that he had just killed his father and was about to kill me when Sasuke interfered and bought precious time for the ANBU to come and drive him out." She breathed deeply. "It's a lie."

"What really happened Mikoto-san?" Hinata questioned.

She furrowed her brow, remembering the event. "Itachi killed Fugaku, and he was walking towards me when **He **appeared. It was night, and He was dressed completely in black, so I couldn't make much sense of Him, but He was blonde, and He had a cane with a sword in it." Yakumo blinked at this. There was a very big chance she was talking about Naruto now.

Mikoto frowned even more. "Itachi asked what He was doing here. He didn't say anything. He just unsheathed the sword, and they started fighting. I was dizzy from Itachi's previous blows, but even if I wasn't, I don't think I could have followed the fight. They were so fast. They were just blurs to me, and that was when Sasuke came."

The boy nodded. "I couldn't really make much sense of it. I had seen the corpses of my clan, and at first, I thought the blonde was the killer. But then I noticed that Itachi was the one covered in blood. It was confusing." He shook his head. "But then He grabbed me and threw to my mother, and He said: 'you will not take this boy's life'. Then He did some kind of jutsu that blasted Itachi through a wall. Wind I think. We saw Hokage-sama outside, and Itachi ran away, but when we looked for Him, He was gone."

He sighed. "For some reason, Hokage-sama didn't want the story of the Himgoing public, and made up the public version." He looked at Yakumo. "Does that seem familiar?"

She nodded, giving them an abbreviated version of her meeting with Naruto. "Blonde with a cane? That's him. The clothes can change, certainly, but hair and that cane of his? No."

Hinata frowned. "Did you hear...thunder, during the fight?"

Mikoto blinked. "Actually, I did, or something like it at least. Did you?" She asked Sasuke, who nodded.

Hinata explained her experience, and the four mulled over their gathered information.

Suddenly, Mikoto glared at the wall. "It's rude to eavesdrop you know."

The genjutsu faded, revealing Kurenai and Kakashi. The latter of the two gave them an eye-smile. "Hi there!"

There was suddenly a katana at his throat, and he froze. "What are you two doing here?" The Uchiha jounin asked, and fire blazed across the blade, while a clone had a kunai to Kurenai's neck.

Kakashi gulped. "W-We just wanted to know what Yakumo's relationship with Naruto was."

The Kurama sighed. "You could have just asked you know. Mikoto-san, can you please forgive the two?"

The Uchiha matriarch sniffed, and an instant later, she was back in her seat, as if she hadn't been about to kill two jounin an instant ago. She still glared at the two however. "Well, since you've already heard our piece, do YOU have anything to share?"

The eye-smile returned. "Actually, we do!" He said, and proceeded to repeat everything the Hokage had told them.

"So...Naruto, is a friend of the Hokage's. A neutral individual that just so happens to regularly help certain Konoha. Do I have that right?" Mikoto asked. The others nodded. She sighed. "There's more to this guy than just that, I'm sure of it. Hokage-sama has the answers, but from what you told me, he won't be revealing it to us anytime soon."

Yakumo grinned. "Then we'll just have to find out ourselves."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting we sneak into the Hokage Tower and read the files there? And that's IF we can actually do that. Kakashi's good, but even he can't avoid a dozen ANBU squads, which is what Hokage-sama has started using for guards these days."

The Kurama pouted.

"Then we'll just have to make a plan." Sasuke said resolutely.

They would soon find out that that was a lot harder in application than to say in words. Hiruzen had become wee bit paranoid after all the cryptic warnings Naruto frequently gave him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He searched for it.

He asked all the right questions, he pushed his mind to the limits until it seemed ready to break after a few more seconds.

And when he was just about to keel over, then, and only then, did it answer.

"Yes?" Though he had heard it only once before, he could never forget the unnatural and inhuman voice of the entity.

He smiled wearily. _'You came.'_

"Well yeah. You were spamming my mind. I had no choice but to answer or else risk having you on my ear for a week. So, what do you want boy?"

'_It's not enough.' _He answered hopelessly.

The entity seemed to blink, though he had no image of it, only its voice. "What?"

He growled in exasperation. _'Don't toy with me, you know what I mean.'_

It appeared to grin mockingly at him. "I guess I do, but pray tell, why should I help you when I've already given you the damn thing and a freebie entirely without a price?"

'_It's not good enough damn it! Words! It answers me with words! Words cannot describe that Dragonslayer's fury, words cannot describe the sheer magnitude of the presence of the queens, words are not enough to prepare for the real thing, and words are not enough for me to achieve my goal!' _He was screaming now, and all the entity did was to seemingly put a finger in its ear to remove dirt. If it even actually HAD an ear.

It huffed. "Well, that's your problem. I already gave you the power. It's your problem if you can't use it properly." It seemed to be turning away, as if leaving.

'_You know full well I really won't win this. Not if my enemies are all idiots at least.' _His voice seemed to break, and his next words had none of his usual conviction. _'Please. I beg you. Give me what I need. Please...'_

It seemed to stop, and it chuckled. "Do you want to go mad, boy? I'm not even sure if you can handle it."

'_Better to go mad than to fail.'_

It laughed, and he felt its physical presence; the aura of superiority that made him fall to the ground on his knees. "Very well. I'll give it to you. But you must now know that every action has a consequence. You'll lose something to get this new gift, and this time, you'll need to rely more than on just planning. Tell me, when have you ever risked your life entirely in your instincts?"

'_N-Never. My knowledge was absolute, while instincts could be wrong.'_

"Ah. Then why did you never wonder why you felt so secure in that forest you found entirely by following a gut feeling? Why did you never seek the truth when it was in your grasp?"

'_That was different. I wasn't in any danger. It was a peaceful place.'_

It appeared to wag a finger at him. "Boy, looks can be deceiving. Didn't meeting that Dragonslayer tell you anything? You could have been in one of those wild realms for all you knew."

He scowled. _'Then I'll find out now-AH!'_

He was discouraged against this notion by a quick bolt of pain. The entity chuckled. "Fool. It will do you wonders if you let it be as it is: an unknown. Your instincts were right there. It is a safe and peaceful place. That is what you must do boy. Follow your instincts. In one such as you, they are never wrong." It seemed to cross its arms in a haughty manner. "There! You have your advice. Take it and never forget it, and pass it down to your successor! It will be your guiding light. See you boy, and never contact me again!...now, to watching that assassin mess up another universe..." It giggled maniacally, and he felt himself fall, and fall...

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a low but wide hill, the center of an extremely large forest full of trees taller and even more ancient than The Forest of Death's. On top of the hill was a massive tree, tall as a skyscraper, with smooth healthy brown bark and rich green leaves.

It was in front of this tree that Naruto was continuously pacing back and forth, a frown on his face as he rambled on and on. Normally, just being in this place would calm him, but not today.

"Madness, it has to be. There's no other reason. I'm good, very good, that much I'll admit is surely true, but I was a step away from freezing like a greenhorn everytime the dragon roared, and when I'm in a humble mood, I'll admit that I really did lose my composure around the Dragonslayer leader. And now, even after all that, when I've barely woken up from my changes, I'm going after someone even worse?" He threw up his hands in the air in frustration.

The blonde sighed, calming down slightly, but the hand holding the cane was shaking. "I'm going to awaken the surviving two of the four, all on a stupid feeling. Makes me wonder if he's shitting me and just wants me to die. Marianne has a good chance of being as she is after all this time, but Zecharayas? I don't know which would be worse: him going crazy over the centuries or still being the same. Sometimes I feel as if a crazy him is better than an unchanged him."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Damn it all. When I was a kid, I thought I could take on the world. Now? I realize how much more I have to go. Twelve years isn't enough, not by far, not for anyone." He put a hand on the tree's trunk, and the comforting warmth soothed him. He smiled at it. "What should I do? I'm terrified, and I know full well that I may die on this if I so much as twitch wrong. I can run. With what I have, I can hide so perfectly not even the gods will find me."

He grimaced. "But that will mean abandoning everyone. Why is this so hard? The Others...wouldn't even hesitate." He laughed brokenly. "Is this what it means to face the unknown, the maybe, to know that anything can happen and that you can't make sure of anything?" He sniffled. "This must be how others feel when facing me...I don't like the feeling..."

The blonde growled. "But...I'm not a coward, and someone who dies hiding is a coward." He smiled grimly, but determinedly. "No. I won't run. I need everyone together, just like back in times of old, if we are to survive the coming storm. I've already started it with the three queens of the sea. I'm not stopping now. I either do the damn thing, or die doing it."

He blinked several times, before looking at the tree. "I have REALLY got to stop ranting when I'm around plantlife. It's just plain freaky." He removed his hand from the trunk, then casted multiple shunshins to get out of the sea of trees.

A breeze made the boughs of the massive tree sway, and slowly, a hand grew out. A hand became an arm, an arm a shoulder, a shoulder a body, until an unnaturally beautiful female was standing in front of the tree, completely naked. She had skin the color of the leaves, though lined with brown the exact shade of the bark. Her hair was a riot of colors; the purple of lilacs, the yellow of dandelions, the red of roses, the white of daisies, and so much more.

Flora, the lord of all plantlife and Dryad (tree nymph) queen, chuckled, the sound like wind through the leaves. "He's rather talkative when he's here, isn't he?"

Silently, a tall willowy figure stepped out of the trees. She was armored in what seemed to be wood kept together with vines, with a gigantic longbow nearly as tall as her six and a half foot frame on her back, along with a quiver of arrows that apparently had leaves for fletching. She was brown-skinned, like rich coffee, her long brown hair so dark it was almost black tied in a neat ponytail. Her ears were incredibly long, and pointed. A wild elf if there was any. "I suspect you have a hand on that." She muttered, her musical voice unnaturally cold.

Flora giggled. "It is only the natural effect I have on those who can commune with nature. While he certainly won't be turning into a druid anytime soon, he has enough that he certainly has a healthy respect for the wild."

The elf frowned. "Why do you let him stay? It was understandable when he was a child, but now? He isn't the innocent boy that wandered in here four years ago. You know what our comrades have found out about him."

The Dryad huffed, crossing her arms over her impressive chest. "You're too pessimistic Lorena."

Lorena growled, the sound resembling a large cat more than anything. "They drove my kind out of our homes, they slaughtered our kind. Never once did they heed the wise among their kind, all in the name of greed. I think I have a right to be pessimistic about anything concerning humans being anything resembling good."

"Give him a chance. If he's managed to convince Tamilis and the other two, then there must be _something_ special about him."

Golden cat-like slits for eyes widened. "W-What?" Lorena shouted, shocked. "Tamilis? Are you serious?" She had heard of her. After all, who hadn't? Queen of the Naga for thousands of years and undoubtedly the most powerful spellcaster of their kind to ever be born, she had made a titanic impact in the old wars. One such event was her sending the entirety of her forces to fight an enemy legion while she kept another army at bay all by herself. It had succeeded immensely, and she had done more than just keep the army at bay. She had actually driven it away.

Then again, the battle HAD been fought right next to the ocean. What idiot would fight the strongest naga in existence near the largest body of water on earth? It probably wouldn't have worked, if the humans had thought of something else beyond the fact that they only had ONE enemy to take down before they could get to the capital.

Flora nodded happily, her emerald eyes twinkling. "Sareena told me so. She was quite happy to tell me all the details. Did you know that he actually asked them to save this poor girl from her captors? Isn't it sweet?"

Dumbly, Lorena leaned on a tree for support. "I can't believe it. They're actually allying themselves with a human? How did he do it with Ymil probably trying to cut his head off everytime he speaks?"

"Oh, that's easy. Ymil was the first one he convinced among the three."

The golden-eyed wild elf groaned. "This is giving me a headache." She looked at Flora. "You're going to join him aren't you? You nymphs have always been a close-knit race. You'll support any decision your cousins make."

The insanely happy smile on the Dryad's face changed to a more subdued and serious one. "I am the queen of my race Lorena. I have a duty to make sure my decisions that concern their lives are sound. The humans have a saying: 'the trees have ears'. For my kind, that is a fact. He is doing quite well, true. But he will need to do more to prove himself to me. Me and my kind will watch, and when he establishes himself as a trustworthy individual, only then will we ally ourselves with him. We have been inactive for far too long. It's time we stretch our legs for something."

Lorena nodded. "Very well. My people will do what we can to help. If you truly find him worthy of our trust, then we will come with you. We aren't friends for nothing."

The maddeningly wide smile returned. "Thanks Lorena!" She shouted, hugging the elf, before, sinking back into her tree.

Lorena sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing Flora. Both our kinds' fate rests on these kinds of decisions."


	9. Chapter 9

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

A scream, a horrifying scream. It sounded into the depths of his soul, shaking his very core, bulldozing against courage and stubbornness, and dragging out the fear and cowardice. Naruto scowled, and in an instant, the Silver Fangs were replaced by the Bloodsteel Blades. He advanced, slowly but gradually, intent on destroying the source.

The banshee continued its terrifying keen, though now it was backing away as a Naruto approached it, sweat beading his forehead as he resisted. The blonde growled, and he leaped at the ghostly female, stabbing into its heart and head. It faded with a howl of anguish, ripping apart into spiritual tatters that were quickly absorbed by the blades.

Wearily, Naruto leaned on the solid stone wall. "Fuck. I really should have expected this. Of course spirits would gather in a place with a history of horror more than a hundred thousand years old. And this is supposed to be the kind one!"

He was in the fortress of one of the surviving two Originator Vampires; the four very first vampires in existence, and also the most powerful. It was inside a mountain, brought deep into the stone by ancient magics when the two survivors of the Blood Wars chose to go into a deep and uninterruptible sleep.

It had been around a hundred-and-fifty thousand years since they had settled into their slumber. They were supposed to have been awakened at the one-hundred thousand year mark by their human followers. Unfortunately, their subjects hadn't been able to last that long, and the last of their mortal followers died long before the appointed time.

Now, he was going to do what was long overdue: their awakening.

The Jinchuuriki went back to walking the long dark corridor. It was a testament to the craftsmanship of the castle's makers that even after more than a hundred thousand years, the walls were only slightly scratched and worn down, if incredibly dirty; but that's what to expect after such a long time without anyone to clean them.

A hiss.

It was barely discernable from the ringing silence, so quiet and muffled it was, but Naruto instantly went on guard, slowly looking left and right for the interloper. The sound hadn't felt physical at all, not like how you would hear it with your ears. He had sensed more than heard it. It was a spiritual sound.

A pale emaciated hand, covered in tattered black cloth and clawed, rose up from the ground, grasping his leg.

The blonde yelled out in surprise and horror as he felt his soul waver and scream, chunks of it being drained in the first instant of contact, even as his body froze in the unnatural chill of a wraith's touch. He swung the swords as accurately as he could in his befuddled state, and it cut through the wrist.

Something like a rusty fork being dragged across his soul was heard, only a thousand times worse, and he fell back on his rump, confused and frozen by fear and the sudden lack of a big chunk of his soul. Then, the stump of the hand rose, revealing a black-clad shoulder, then a body covered in a tattered cloak, the head cowled. He could see its feet; something a bit more than bone covered in white pasty skin, with long black nails.

A sound, a sound one makes when one is dying, when one breathes out the last breath he will ever take in his lungs. A death rattle. A moment of horrifying silence, before the sickening sound repeated itself.

Naruto's eyes widened in realization. _'My god! Its every breath is a death rattle!' _

And so it was. The wraith brought up its amputated arm, and slowly, whitish fluorescence; the essence of basic souls, flowed out of the stump, forming into a new arm. It seemed to grin then, if such a being could ever grin, before hovering towards him, its pale hands stretched out, its black nails lengthening into long black claws.

The Jinchuuriki shuddered. Any normal man would have succumbed by now, overwhelmed by the first attack and weakened by its draining presence, but not him. The Bloodsteel Blades disappeared, to be replaced by the cane. He unsheathed the blade.

The wraith stopped, and its eyes seemed to widen as it felt the unnatural presence of matter never meant to exist outside of the realm of possibilities. It was confused. It was a powerful wraith, thousands of years old, and all it had fought had been brought down without much effort. It had taken worse damage from others, so why was it unnerved by the new weapon?

Naruto thrust, and the blade sunk into the flesh of its chest with ease. It screamed, clawing at him, and though he sustained no physical damage, his soul was already tatters. He swiped downward, and the blade cut a horrid line from the chest down its groin. The screaming intensified.

It seemed to stop as it felt the chill metal of the sheath touch its forehead. Naruto pulled the trigger.

Its head snapped backwards, its expression seemingly surprised, and it fell to the ground, sinking down the stone floor like a feather does through air. The Bloodsteel Blades appeared once more, and he speared the body, dragging it upwards to be absorbed by the blades. When finished, he drank from the wellspring of the blades' spiritual pool, taking in the raw essence of soul to repair his tattered own. While this might have been mediocre at best to use to replenish chakra, it worked wonders in his current situation, and he was back to traversing the corridors to get to the room of the slumbering vampire.

Several times he encountered more malevolent spiritual beings, and twice, he messed up and activated the traps. The sudden volley of magical bombardment that filled the entire hallway was avoided through a quick shunshin into another room. Unfortunately, this activated another trap, one that unleashed a horrifying abomination that seemed to be a patchwork human with leeches for skin, blood, and organs.

He had taken it down with the Silver Fangs, the great knives turning each spot of skin it hit into burning cauterized patches, killing the leeches on its skin that were so terrifying about it, before launching the burning blades into its belly and letting it explode.

Another time was when he made the mistake of putting a hand on the wall for support after a tough battle against the shade of a warrior tortured to death. The six suits of armor had come to life and tried to kill him, while from the ground rose two ten-feet-tall stone golems. Ponderous and nigh-unstoppable.

The cane blade had reduced them to scrap in a few minutes.

Now, he in front of one of the doors to the basement; where the vampire slept. He pushed open the door, and was greeted with utter silence. He stepped onto the stairway, and began the long walk downwards.

It was a murderous walk. The levels above were nothing compared to the basement, where the true tortures, the true horrors, and the true nightmares lurked. The wraiths, banshees, and shades he had fought were wrought from what must have been at most a few hours of torture with materials that the vampires had at the moment; unexpected enemies or something or other.

Here, they had tortured the prisoners for weeks if not years on end, here they had given them the worst of deaths, here they had shattered their hope and their beliefs. It was here that true hate and horror had festered, until Naruto would be surprised if not all of the prisoners had left at least a phantasm to vent its anger upon interlopers.

And this was the fortress of Marianne Dekorum. Marianne the Kind, who permitted torture only on enemies. How bad would it be when he went to awaken Zecharayas Istanbul; the Emotionless?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He had been wounded numerous times already, and if it wasn't for the fact that the wounds were purely spiritual and he had the Bloodsteel Blades, he would be dead by now. But he had no time to appreciate this fact.

Slash, thrust, riposte, block a claw, jam the other blade into the mouth about to scream. Twist, cleave through the mouth and into another's neck. Wrangle the claw and stab into its chest, disengage.

These were the thoughts in Naruto's head as he fought the veritable army of spirits. He was surrounded; wraiths and banshees and shades on all sides. And he was loving it.

A phantasm; ghostly caricatures of their figures in life, whether at their prime or at their death, stalked towards him, the claymore of the dead knight wavering in and out of focus. It stabbed, and he twisted to the side, dodging it. He thrust, and the blade stabbed through the ethereal helm, and the spirit dropped.

Another shade, this time the figure of a man apparently literally torn into two pieces in death, crawled with its hands towards him, its nails and teeth mutated into monstrous weapons in death. He channeled chakra with a big spiritual composition through his foot, and delighted in the crunching sound of his shoes shattering its head.

A banshee screamed, the sound shaking the chamber, and he frowned. A shunshin, and he appeared right next to it. He started spinning, slicing apart any that had been to close, and somewhere into the third revolution, he heard the keen jerk off. He must have cut it down.

He stopped, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a wraith raise its hand, the nails already lengthened, for a blow. The hand fell, and he rolled to the side. He turned the roll into a jump, and the wraith fell with his two swords jammed through its chest. He tore them out, and turned to face the swarm.

He realized then why some people loved battle so much. TRUE battle. Not the slaughter he did with the mercenaries. Nor the battle with Itachi, Raiga and Madara, where all that he did was anticipate their every move through memory and react through carefully planned attacks.

Oh no, THIS was a true battle. Here there was no room for conscious thought, only the movements of the body and the slicing of blades. This was a battle where the result was on a precipice. Both sides could win, and the only path to victory was through hours of adrenaline-filled hacking and slashing. It was addictive.

It was a challenge and a thrill. In battle, all that existed was you and the combat, where adrenaline flowed through your veins in an effort of the body to give you every advantage possible.

Naruto laughed, and he dove into the throng, blades flashing.

It had taken goodness knows how long. He knew he could have fought for half a dozen hours and only then get slightly winded, for without the actual rigors of physical combat (cuts, bruises, etc.), his intense training equaled the exertion that was put into such a period of battle, and he felt ready to collapse into a heap on the floor when the apparitions finally started fleeing from him.

He grinned despite the overwhelming weariness that had set deep into his bones. He had won his first true battle, and it felt exhilarating. He laughed, the sound seemingly brightening the dark room and pushing away the edges of the oppressive darkness.

Chuckling, he pulled out the stone rod with a lighted oiled rag wrapped around its tip from the ground. He had carried it around him for light and jammed it into the ground during the battle. Then, he resumed his walk (accompanied with several shunshins to cover the distance of course), carefully avoiding the traps and glaring at any malevolent specter that so much as twitched wrong.

Half an hour later, with only three more encounters with some stubborn phantoms, he finally arrived at the enormous room that contained the portal at the bottom of the castle, staring at the massive stone door.

The blonde sighed. Only Marianne's followers could open the doors without activating the traps, and that was through special items that the leaders of her cult owned. The human sect had died out over the years, and most of the items had been destroyed. Though even if none had been destroyed, it would have resulted in the same thing, as he needed all five leaders and their items to open the portal.

He studied the doorway. It was five feet thick, made of the incredibly hard stone of the castle mined in the Dwarven Mountains and carved by the most skilled stoneworkers of her time.

For a moment, he itched to try his damndest against the doorway, to face down its guardians through strength of arm and blade, then the moment passed, leaving him blinking in astonishment. He looked at the door, then at the Bloodsteel Blades. The door, then back again.

With a sigh, he sat down, two shadow clones coming into existence. "Guard me while I rest." They nodded as he handed them the cane blade and the Bloodsteel Blades; for mere chakra could not recreate their effects, and he ate his packed rations before sleeping to regain his strength.

He woke up without trouble. Only half a dozen had attacked, and the two had managed to take them down without much trouble. He dispelled the clones and took their weapons, before facing the portal.

The Silver Fangs appeared in his grasp, and he launched them at the door, furrowing his brow expectantly as the scorching blades caused fire to blaze across the surface as they impacted.

The entire room blazed with light and energy as sigils inscribed long, long ago came to life, their workmanship such that they operated even after such an extended time. The runes on the door fluctuated, and the very symbols themselves detached themselves from the surface, radiating light, before turning into the two main guardians.

Red light so bright they had a weight to them splashed across the room, and Naruto had to cover his eyes lest he blind himself. Finally, they dimmed down enough for him to see, and he blinked several times at the sight, before groaning.

A devil, a thrice-damned devil. It just stood there with a raised eyebrow at him, in full Devastator devil regalia: full-body plate mail made from a black-veined red metal found only in hell. It wouldn't have been so bad if its weapons were the same, but nooo, its sword and shield just HAD to be unique [they were seemingly made from organic matter (sword) and black stone (shield)]. That meant this wasn't ordinary infantry. This was the pride and joy of a platoon; their strongest warrior, at the very least.

Contrary to popular belief, devils didn't have red skin or hooves or whatnot. In fact, they looked a lot similar to humans, only they were very pale; almost as pale as vampires, their eye colors were limited to black, red, and yellow, they only had red, black, and purple hair, and their ears were pointed oh so very slightly. You wouldn't notice it unless you actually looked for it, and even then, you'll think they were just one of those few humans with that kind of ears. Oh, and they were generally a lot more beautiful and handsome than humans, model-level at least. Bastards.

Next to it, was an abomination, for that was the only he could use to describe it. It was made from the pieces of multiple beings: a large gryphon, an unnaturally large bull, somekind of animal with a long snout practically bursting with teeth, a scaled tail with a spiked ball at the end, and elementals.

It was on all fours, and at least ten feet high to its shoulders. Its torso was that of a large gryphon's, complete with two large wings, but each of its four limbs were made from an elemental: fire, water, earth, and wind. It had a long tail, at least twenty feet long, with a bony orb bristling with deadly spikes at the end. It had the head of a bull, with horns three feet long, but its snout had been removed in favor of another that was overflowing with teeth.

It roared, and Naruto's jaw dropped when he that there were teeth on the cave of its mouth and on the bottom. Its tongue grew from the back of its throat, and it was barbed, which dripped with acid.

Something screeched behind him, and he turned, his eye twitching at the sight of a multitude of ghouls: the most base servants of vampires. Looking like pasty olive-skinned mutant humans, they were hairless and mindless, though a normal ghoul was slightly faster and stronger than a normal vampire, with claws and teeth that could rend through solid steel.

Even worse, the shadows themselves took form, until there thirteen vaguely humanoid shapes staring him down. Shadow Sapiens, Shades. With a capital S. Think of the deepest shadows in the places where light was as unnatural and unknown as things flying upwards when you drop them. Influence them with the most potent of Good emotions: everlasting love, wonderful peace, unforgettable valor, and you have noble protectors of shadow that will slaughter the monsters under the bed if they so much as twitch wrong. Usually, these existed under the earth with the Deep Humans.

Now, use the equivalent of Bad emotions, and you have one really out of it monster that slaughters indiscriminately. He had a feeling these weren't the kind ones.

He sighed. "The bastard really wanted me dead didn't he?" Alright, this was the last time he was going to trust his instincts. After all, look where it got him?

The devil put a hand to its chin, smiling. "That's it? A single fool? And I thought I was finally going to get some action." It muttered in a cultured tone.

The abomination growled and its tongue shot out, the barb faster than anything he had ever encountered before. Naruto's foot tapped the ground, and a thick stone block shot into the air, blocking the barb and stealing enough of the momentum for him to dodge it.

He blinked at the eight-inch thick block, which had been pierced straight through by the two-inch barb. The monster grunted, and the tongue shot back to its mouth, and the solid stone shattered with a bite. Yikes.

A multitude of growls and howls, and he abandoned the abomination in favor of the veritable army of ghouls. Fire chakra blazed from his arms and into the Silver Fangs, and the blades shot out, alight with burning fury. He swung them like a lasso, creating twin rings of fire, and with a snap, brought them down on two masses of ghouls.

They were blasted away, burned severely, and in the moment of shock, he started swinging the burning coils like whips, painstakingly adding wind chakra to the already-burning blades.

The effort was worth it, as the speed of the blades exponentially increased, and they cut the ghouls apart with ease. They were mindless beasts, driven by the wills of long-dead vampires who had offered them to their queen as part of the guard, and they swarmed him, mindless of their death.

A roar, and his eyes widened, before he shunshined away.

And not a moment too soon, as the abomination rumbled over the spot he had been on an instant ago, its horns, tail, teeth, and limbs crushing, gutting, and rending the ghouls apart with an unnatural ferocity. It roared when it didn't smell his blood among its victims, and it glared at him, red eyes gleaming.

The remains of the ghouls rushed him, several dozen of them. He spun while kneeling, and he cut their legs from under them, leaving them helpless to be trampled over by the beast as it charged towards him in its rage.

He stayed where he was, and just as it was about to hit him, jumped, grinning as the monster slammed into the solid stone wall. It broke through the rock like a bulldozer through a summer home. His eyes bugged out at the sight, and from the darkness of the opening, its red bull eyes glared at him.

He felt more than heard its tongue lashing out, and his knives swiped upwards, barely blocking the barbed organ. Even then, he skidded backwards several feet. _'Damn, its tongue is as strong as an armored charge!' _Said tongue snapped back, followed by a snarl, before he heard wingbeats.

His eyes widened as the wall above the gap burst open, and he gaped openmouthedly as the seemingly un-aerodynamic beast flew in the high-ceilinged chamber. It turned, and proceeded to dive-bomb towards him.

He scowled, channeling earth chakra through his weapons, and with a yell, spun counter-clockwise vertically from the ground, dragging them across the floor and launching them at the beast. The stone followed his blades, a deluge of rock turned into several gigantic spikes, and the beast's eyes widened as it struggled to change direction.

It was too late. As fast as it was, as large as it was, it had gathered too much momentum, and the blades and spikes impaled it like a lance does a boar, stopping it in its tracks, sick dark red ichor flowing from the wounds, down the spikes, and onto the ground.

It roared in defiance, and in a distressing display of strength, broke off the four spikes that had impaled it so. Another roar, and it stomped the ground with its earthen limb. The ground shook, and Naruto saw the stone floor undulate like a wave towards him. He leaped, barely avoiding the growing wave, gulping when he saw it turn the wall it hit it into crumbling dust.

He heard something scrape against the ground, and rolled to the side, dodging its rush. Its tail swiped to the side, and he blocked it as best as he could. Several spikes glanced across his blades and arms, but even that was enough send him crashing against the wall.

He strained to see past the stars in his eyes, and saw the abomination pointing a burning feline limb at him. His eyes widened.

Fire burst out of it like water does from a fire hydrant, a veritable tidal wave of fire. It was fast as anything he had ever seen before, and he had no time to react as it washed over him. He screamed, the fire so hot it burned off his flesh in moments, exposing the bone beneath. His eyes and most of his bones melted like wax, while the most hollow exploded as the heat made the air inside expand.

He fell, an unrecognizable corpse and twin gleaming knives. The monster roared its victory, striding purposely to the corpse, sniffing it and giving a deep monstrous bellow when it found it genuine.

The devil sighed. "Good, but not good enough. Honestly, when will the bloody vampire hunters go and ransack a vampire queen's castle? It's really boring getting sent here to protect it when there's really no need. The bloody beast takes care of everything."

Naruto landed on the beast's head, slightly ruffled but unharmed, and with a flourish, jammed the Bloodsteel Blades deep into its cranium. The abomination only had time to widen its eyes, before it slumped to the ground, a rapidly deteriorating corpse as the blades sucked the blood out of it. The blonde idly swiped the Silver Fangs from the ground.

The devil stared at him. It looked at the corpse, then back at him. "How? The beast is never wrong when talking about its targets. What are you, his twin?"

Naruto grinned. "Blood clone, Hellborn. It distinguishes beings through smell. My blood, turned into my body, if for a limited time only. It didn't know what hit it." The blood came from the enemies he drained. Though originally, the blood wasn't his, the Bloodsteel Blades turned the blood it held into the type most compatible for its wielder. For a vampire, that meant a 17 year old virgin if that was its tastes. For a human wielding the blades, that meant an exact copy of his blood.

The blood clone was a Kinjutsu (Forbidden Jutsu) that required blood of equal mass of the user's body to use. The result was a clone of shadow clone-level intelligence and ability, one that could take damage so long as it still had chakra or didn't have any fatal wounds. It was perfect for making corpses, as when it died, usage of the chakra you put in it slowed to a crawl, allowing you a corpse that would last for months if it had enough chakra, turning back into the blood it was made from only when it ran out of energy. It didn't have the Kage Bunshin's memory ability though, but then again, it's not as if anyone had enough blood to spare to use it for training.

The devil raised an eyebrow, and Naruto took note of how the black veins in its red full plate thickened and widened. "Are you, by any chance, another clone?"

"No."

It grinned. "Good. I've been itching for a fight for a while now." It lifted its large black stone shield, and the symmetrical sick green lines on it pulsed, an orb of green forming at the center of the tower shield. It unsheathed its sword, and the organic blade throbbed as if it had a heartbeat. "Prepare yourself, mortal."

It moved, and Naruto barely blocked its blow. It was so fast that it seemed as if it had teleported, one moment far away, the next, in front of him and swinging its sword for a blow. The block was a mistake, and he felt bones crack as they tried to resist a force so much stronger than him.

He was thrown away, rolling and skidding across the floor. He groaned, wearily standing up and staring at the devil. "Holy hell. The legends weren't lying about you guys."

It grinned, and a wave of its sword sent a line hellfire racing towards him. He didn't waste time trying out water on it, jumping over it like a hurdle. The floor it had run over felt hot and smelled of smoke and brimstone. He scowled. This was bad. Demons were one thing, devils were quite another. While they weren't so overwhelmingly powerful as to say that the weakest devil was more powerful than the strongest demon, middle-tier devils were already roughly on par with Demonlords of the level of Kyuubi, while the strongest of devils could defeat any demon there was in existence, hands down, if with effort for the most powerful demons.

His current enemy was a basic infantry unit, but it was the best of its platoon. That meant he had anything from just above middle-class and just below high-class. Either way, he was facing one that was as strong as, or stronger than, Kyuubi. "Blast." He muttered. He should have killed the Devil when he had the chance, not the abomination.

Nonchalantly, the devil pointed its sword at him, and slowly, its heartbeat seemed to increase, throbbing more and more, and teeth sprouted at the edges, while a new sound entered: a sick growling and rumbling sound, like a hungry beast out on the prowl.

Cackling, it leaped at him. He dodged, barely, and he saw the blade make a mess of the floor, the organic weapon seemingly _eating _the stone. The Hellborn spun, clocking him solidly on the arm with the shield, and he tumbled away, clutching the bruised area. It grinned.

Scowling, Naruto unleashed the Silver Fangs, pumping wind chakra through the blades, swinging them low and high in opposite directions. The devil blocked one with the shield, and let the cable and blade snap and curl around its sword.

Before it could pull him to it with its superior strength, he channeled lightning chakra through the cable, and smiled grimly as the sword twitched heavily. He gaped when the sword started actually howling and screaming like an animal, and the devil tore off the coils with a frown. Eager to test out this new discovery, he charged as much lightning as he could, and started swinging the cord like whips. The devil scowled. "This has gone on far enough." It muttered.

He had but an instant's warning, but by then it was too late. The black veins in its armor had shone in unnatural inverted light. Not shadow, but black light. For several moments, all his senses had been muffled, and he could feel nothing, before pain sprouted from his chest as the devil shield-charged him.

He was thrown away like a rag doll, crashing painfully limp on the ground. He couldn't feel his chest, or anything below it for that matter, but what he could feel hurt like hell.

Vaguely, he heard it laugh triumphantly. "Hey boy, why are you here anyway? If you know about the castle, then you know that going here is suicidal. No treasure is worth the horrors of this fortress."

He looked determinedly at the devil. "I'm here to awaken the queen, and I'll do it if it's the last thing I do."

It raised an eyebrow. "There are cultists for that job fool."

"They're dead."

It blinked in surprise. "Really? That must be what's off. I'm supposed to guard this place only for one-hundred thousand years."

He smiled. This might work to his favor. "Does that mean you'll let me pass?"

It waved him off. "Of course not. My job it to kill anyone not authorized to go here, and I'm not going to fail in my duties."

Or not.

The blonde's eye twitched. "NO ONE is authorized to pass by these days."

It grinned. "Then that means I have to kill everyone." It settled into a stance, the shield in front, the sword to the side. It was going to charge again. He knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it this time, and the impact was going to turn kill him this time. "Get ready to die boy."

Naruto sighed. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice."

"What?"

The up-to-now unnoticed seals on the floor lit up like the sun, and the devil screamed as the light blinded him, even as tendrils of radiance grabbed onto him, preventing him from escaping.

Another Naruto calmly took the Silver Fangs from the crippled one, slapping seals onto the blades and putting them at the neck of the devil. The Hellborn growled menacingly. "Another clone? You lying piece of shit!"

A laugh, and it glanced in its direction to see what was most probably the original, pumping chakra through the seals to keep him paralyzed. "I'm a pseudo-politician. What did you expect?" The clone beside it pumped chakra through the blades, and the seals turned it into holy energy; or something close to it at least. He pulled them back, and swung. The deadly edge didn't even pierce the skin, only cracking it slightly as if it was a shell.

A moment of surprise, before the clone furiously started swinging as hard and as fast as it could, and eventually, the blades broke through the devil's legendary hide, and with enough slashes, it was able to sever enough of its flesh to make it fatal.

All the time the devil had been screaming, and when the knives tore through several important veins, it choked, its bright red blood spraying like a fountain and pooling on the ground, before it slumped, dead. If it weren't for the seals that converted the chakra into a rough approximation of holy energy, the blades would never have pierced its hide, no matter how many times he cut at it.

The Naruto supplying the energy that kept it paralyzed groaned. The devil had pushed him to his limits, even though it barely had any leverage to make much use of its strength. He stopped supplying chakra, sighing deeply, taking the Silver Fangs and dispelling his clones. He didn't want to catch the attention of Hell this early, but he had to do it. He could have called on Caerlik the fire dragon, but he needed the great wyrm for something more important.

He turned towards the Shades, which seemed unconcerned of the fact that he could use the light; even if it was a bastardized version, the Bloodsteel Blades flashing into his hands. "Come and get me, you bastards."


	10. Chapter 10

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Also, can someone make some fanart of the OCs (Sareena, Tamilis, Ymil, etc.) for me?**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

He turned towards the Shades, which seemed unconcerned of the fact that he could use the light; even if it was a bastardized version, the Bloodsteel Blades flashing into his hands. "Come and get me, you bastards."

_Something _seemed to scream from behind him, the sound making his body shake in instinctive terror. He turned, and saw the organic weapon of the devil he had killed in the air, having leaped at him.

It had grown, and now seemed like a large twelve-foot long mutant worm, with teeth that vibrated like chainsaws.

He pulled up the Silver Fangs to block, charging lightning chakra through them, but even as he brought them up, he saw the damage caused to one of them just by wrapping it around the living blade earlier. It was pitted and worn, clear signs where the devil's weapon had eaten the metal.

No, the damn thing would eat through them in an instant. He could feel its fury at its master's death, and the electricity he could produce at such short notice wouldn't be enough to discourage it. He was doomed.

Shadows moved, and the monster was stopped a foot from hitting him by a cocoon of shadow that writhed and pulsed like a living being. The monster struggled, _eating _the shadows that kept it under thrall, and vaguely, Naruto felt an emotion that could only be described as _cold _annoyance.

Suddenly, dark spikes ripped out of the cocoon from all directions, as if someone had fired large stakes through a giant nail puncher from **inside** the cocoon. The organic blade writhed feebly, and another burst of the 'cold' annoyance was felt.

A loosely hand-shaped silhouette formed out of the shadows, before it sprouted gigantic vaguely curved blades. It swiped downwards, and Naruto heard a sound resembling a butcher knife cutting into meat. The struggling ceased.

The shadows faded, and the separate pieces of the organic sword fell. For a moment, the pieces were still. Then one of them twitched.

The blonde felt what could be described as a mental roar of a god. It rang in his mind, making his head shake, and yet, he couldn't help but feel as if it was muffled somehow, as if the god had covered its mouth while it did so.

A thousand thousand spears ripped into the fleshy portions, so many that he couldn't see the actual pieces themselves. The shadowy spears lifted in the air, as if a million men had pulled them out of the scraps, before they plunged down with fatal velocity. This was repeated. Several times.

Naruto stared at the bloody mess, noting the brownish-yellowish ichor that had flowed from the remains of the organic blade, before he looked at his saviors: the Shades. Only they could have commanded the shadows to do as such.

They approached, and he tensed, but suddenly, they spoke.

It was a chilling sound, the voice one would expect of a shadow if it was given a voice. It seemed so quiet, yet was heard so profoundly it hurt. _"Free our mistress warrior. Her stores are at their end, she will die if she does not feed. Please..."_

He stared at them. He had expected a battle against things that could arguably be considered as more powerful than the devil he just fought, and suddenly, they were apparently the noble kind! He laughed, and he smiled at them. "I will. You have my word. But..." He looked at the door. It wasn't even singed from the fire. "...how am I to open it? Killing the guardians did not trigger the opening mechanism."

The Shades moved, an impression of darkness in the deepest of shadows, and he saw them grasp the door, the thin shadows sliding across the extremely tight seams of the door as only shadows could, while some formed what seemed to be suckered tentacles and latched onto the door.

They pulled, and the door groaned as it slid steadily open, a thousand tons of solid stone being moved with ease by thirteen entities of shadow. It showed him just how powerful the old occupants of the world truly were.

"_Save our queen..." _They whispered.

He nodded, walking inside the dark room. He lifted one of the Silver Fangs, and made it burn to provide light. He gasped.

He was in what seemed to be a domed room. It didn't have four walls, just one big dome with a single door (the one he had come in from). He studied the floor, noting how it sloped smoothly downwards into the hole at the center.

He sniffed the air, and his eyes widened. Blood. The smell of blood permeated the room as nothing had ever before. The titanic room had been filled with blood! Why? Simple: vampires needed blood to survive, even when in deep slumber, and they filled it to keep the queen alive for the one-hundred thousand year-long sleep (since she's sleeping, she absorbed it through her skin, like a sponge).

The walls and ceiling was a dome and the floor sloped perfectly so that no blood would be wasted, and all that went to...

He looked at the hole, and there she was: Marianne Dekorum.

She was gaunt, as if she was a human who hadn't eaten in weeks. Her hair had no luster to it, and her lips were shriveled. She seemed a newly-deceased corpse more than anything, and yet, he could see clearly her beauty, marred as it was by her hunger.

He jumped down, noting how the edges of the three-feet-deep hole curved downwards. Everything was smooth in the room, to make sure the blood would flow to her properly. The fact that there was no blood left meant that the architecture was perfect, since the place was sealed tight, preventing the blood from spoiling, evaporating, or leaking out.

The hole was six meters in diameter, and Marianne lay on an even smaller indentation smack dab in the middle.

He knew how to awaken her. While if everything had gone as planned, it would have taken the full ritual to wake her up, but starved as she was, there was a simple, but very dangerous way to rouse her from her slumber. He sighed. "I just know I'm going to regret this later." He walked over to her, kneeling.

Gently, he put her upright, shocked at how little she weighed. He pushed away a few strands of her from her face, before tilting her head so that it was a centimeter away from his neck. He loosened his collar, giving a great view of the pulsing veins on his throat, then proceeded cut a thin line on it with an application of wind chakra.

Blood dripped out, and for a moment, all was silent.

Her eyes snapped open, feral and wild, and for an instant, he thought of how stupid his idea was.

She moved, springing so fast from her position he was caught utterly by surprise. She tackled him, bringing him down painfully on the stone floor, and proceeded to furiously lick at the bloody wound. Her tongue was soft, pink and delicate despite the rest of her body, and her actions made him quiver in pleasure. It got even worse however, as she gained more of a mind, and she figured out that there was a better way to get his blood.

She bit down on his neck, HARD.

He quivered from the pain, but rose above it to gently run a hand down her rapidly-recovering hair, the material losing its limp and rough texture to regain its smooth and silky nature. He muttered soothing nothings to her, knowing that she wouldn't understand any words at her current state, but the tone of the sounds would be basic enough for her.

Slowly, she seemed to calm, and in a few moments she was just daintily sucking on his neck as she sat on his lap, purring like a cat all the while. Just as well. If he had been a resistant prey, she would have used one of the most well-known vampiric abilities: the addictive saliva that calmed the prey and turned pain into pleasure. From normal vampires, it had been enough to turn chaste ladies into wild harlots. From an Originator? The very first and strongest of their kind? He would be lucky if he was able to think of anything but her after a month. If he survived the feeding.

He sighed in relief, before a Bloodsteel Blade appeared in his other hand. He was running out of blood, and she needed more than he could currently offer before she was back to one-hundred percent, with the amount her body had atrophied and given up to keep her alive. Thankfully, the blade could continuously supply him with it.

She froze, her body tensing.

Gently, he put his hand reassuringly on her hand, kissing her forehead, before whispering in her ear. "No. Feed. It's been fifty-thousand years since you last fed. You need it. Don't worry, I can take it."

Marianne would normally have disagreed, but famished as she was, slowly, she relaxed, and continued feeding, if at a more sedate pace. Naruto simply lay there, feeling strange as a vampire sucked his blood out while his blade fed him the life-giving liquid to keep him going.

Gradually, as the minutes passed, she fed less, until finally, she stopped feeding entirely. He felt her stir, and in an instant, she was on the other side of the massive room, her back to him.

Naruto blinked, before slowly standing up, letting the blade disappear. Gingerly, he put a hand to his neck, even as he walked out of the hole. There were no bite marks where she had bitten him, just twin small spots of tender skin. Strange. He had expected two pinpricks at the very least.

"Thank you."

The words had been sudden. They had been said in all graciousness and humility, a way you never expected a vampire queen to speak in. The voice was like a melody, soft and mellow, beautiful and distracting in its own right.

The Jinchuuriki smiled. "I did what must be done."

She sighed, a depressing sound. "I overslept, didn't I? They left enough blood for me to survive for a hundred thousand years, and yet, for all my discipline, I had lost all coherent thought, and acted like a savage. They wouldn't have forgotten about me. They were too loyal for that. They are dead, aren't they? All of them."

"Yes."

Another sigh, this one of sadness and regret. She turned towards him, and it took all his discipline not to openly stare.

She was beautiful. Perfect. Magnificent. Few words could describe her now that she had recovered.

She was pale, her skin the shade of alabaster. She had vaguely oriental eyes that shone in the same color as emeralds and light brown hair, which hung in curls down to her waist. She was dressed in a splendid jade dress, doing more to enhance her figure than hide it. Her body was breathtakingly sensual, curvy and yet somehow thin, showing just enough muscle to make her all the more attractive.

Her heart-shaped face was flushed red with newly acquired blood, and he noted the blood smearing her red, pouty full lips. Unconsciously, she licked it clean, and he felt his heart beat faster.

His mouth was dry, and he gulped nervously. "Are you alright now?" He asked.

Marianne smiled, and he hoped to god he didn't look like a retard when saw it. She all but gleamed in an unnatural but lovely beauty then. "Thank you for your concern. I am, because of you. My end was close, oh so very close, and I fear I may have killed anyone else but you." She put a finger to her lips, tracing them slowly. "You...didn't resist. That was wise. I know not what you used to replenish your body of blood, but you would not have had the thought to do that, or think of anything, anything at all, even! if I had used my narcotic on you."

Slowly he nodded. He seemed incapable of thinking much of anything right now. Hopefully, he'll get used to her. Hopefully.

Marianne looked outside, and frowned at what she smelled. "Oh dear." She looked at him, a poignant expression on her face. "Of course, if they are all dead, then none can pass without going through the guardians." She shook her head sadly as she strode to the chamber to study the battle.

"_MISTRESS!" _The Shades all but shouted in happiness, and the brown-haired vampire had a look of delight on her face before the Shadow Sapiens enveloped her, like a living sea of darkness.

She laughed, a sound that made his heart flutter. "You're alive!-okay, maybe that isn't the right word, but-you still exist! I thought I was all alone!" The Shades seemed to giggle, if living entities of shadow could giggle, and they spread away from her, indistinguishable from the darkness.

"_We will never leave you mistress. We will always be with you, throughout your everlasting unlife." _They promised, and though they seemed to disappear, their presence remained, like a guardian angel, only more inclined to the dark side.

Marianne chuckled, before she saw the devil. She pursed her lips, before shaking her head. "Lucien. He was the best of his platoon. How in the night did you defeat him?"

Naruto bit his lip. He REALLY didn't want to make a bad impression on her, but lying to such a creature seemed an even worse crime. "I cheated. He fought a copy, and I paralyzed him when he least expected it."

She nodded gravely. "I understand. He was a powerful warrior of a powerful race. A human as young as you would not have been able to take him in a straight battle."

The blonde shifted uneasily on his feet, and she smiled reassuringly at him. "Do not be ashamed of yourself. Though I may not look like it, I am a woman who understands battles. Doubtless, you prepared extensively before facing the guardians, and knew what you had to do. I cannot feel guilty when I know my life rested in your success." She made a gesture, and things rose from out of nowhere.

Gargantuan red hounds that bayed red fire, large black panthers that seemed more shadow than flesh, massive black bats whose screeches contained the threat of sonic destruction, terrifying white wolves that shone like the moon, immense black eagles that cut the air as they flew, colossal red bears that moved with a silence that should not be possible for such large creatures, and so much more. All of them as large as, or larger than, the abomination he had fought earlier.

She breathed deeply, the action doing interesting things to her chest. "I sense them. So many phantasms and wraiths and banshees. They are restless, and I see wounds on them. You fought through them to get here didn't you? Impressive. Nonetheless, I do not wish to wade through such a host." She looked at her familiars; the unnatural animals. "Cleanse the fortress. Every room, every corner, every secret opening in the structure. Ghosts go everywhere, and I do not want to face another group of wraiths when I'm bathing. That is an experience I'd rather not repeat."

Naruto blushed at the thought of her naked. _'Blast it, get your mind out of the gutter you fool!' _He shouted to himself mentally.

The animals nodded, and with a chorus of unearthly sounds, they moved, more a blur than anything else, astounding in their speed. They seemed to encounter _something_, and with a harmony of howls, roars, and screeches, they went to battle.

She looked at him, and he instantly went to attention. "Come. 'Tis time for my castle to show itself once again to the world." She started walking, glancing every now and then at the signs of battle; the corpses of the ghouls and the great abomination. She tsked at the foul beast. "I will not shed any tears for its death. It was an abomination." She muttered. They moved on, and Naruto couldn't help but stare when he saw the familiars do battle.

They were monstrous, powerful, terrifying. The red hounds' fires cut a devastating swath of destruction in the lines of the specters, while the bats' sonic screeches tore multitudes of phantasms to tatters, outmatching the banshees a hundred times over. The moon wolves seemed more a ghost of light than anything, blinding the ghosts and tearing them apart with its claws and fangs, while the shadow panthers rose out of nowhere and everywhere to strike where they could do the most damage. The eagles dove down, and their massive wings cut down ghosts by the dozens like a scythe does wheat, while the great bears towered over everything, destroying everything, that stood against them.

Naruto stared at Marianne, recalling what he knew of the Originators. The Golden King was unmatched in all things physical; faster, harder, stronger, and more resilient than anyone else. The Scarlet Queen was unparalleled in raw vampiric power; she could tear out all your blood with a word, call up mountains of shadow in broad daylight, or just plain blot out the sun for days on end.

The Azure King, with a mind like no other. He was frail in Originator standards, but his mind more than made up for it, enabling him to use all his abilities, physical or vampiric, to their full potential, along with instantaneous reflexes that made him untouchable in an entire battlefield of vampires. He was a true master of war and battle, and it is said that the other originators once fought him three-to-one, and the Azure King had won.

And then there was Marianne Dekorum, the Emerald Queen. She was known for her unique energies, which seemed to either contain a mind of their own or to actually be _alive_, and her most terrifying aspect; her familiars. It was said that at the peak of her strength, she could summon a hundred thousand of them, each one of them as powerful as an elder vampire.

He looked at the great beasts annihilating the ghosts, then at Marianne, who seemed not even to notice her familiars. She wasn't even strained, and already, she had an army that could take on a minor hidden village and win?

A wraith burst from the ground, howling at Maria as it ghosted towards her.

A black hand rose from her shadow, a scythe appearing in its grasp, cutting the beast in half. It seemed to sneer at the spiritual corpse, before becoming a normal shadow once again. Marianne never once looked at the wraith.

Naruto blinked. Now he knew what they meant by _alive_.

They continued walking, and within ten minutes, the sounds of battle had all but died off, with only intermittent bursts of noise when the familiars apparently found some hiding phantoms. Three minutes after that, and they stopped completely, the beasts returning to Marianne for orders, in which she sent them back to where they came from.

It would have taken him weeks, if not months, to completely clear off the massive castle, and Marianne had done it in less than a quarter of an hour.

The Jinchuuriki felt insignificant around the brown-haired vampire, knowing the power difference between them.

She stopped, blinking several times as she faced him. "Of course, how rude of me, I never introduced myself." She made a curtsy. "Marianne Dekorum, the Emerald Queen." She gazed at him from her bow, her eyes mischievous, entrancing. "Yours?"

Naruto smiled, and he bowed, left hand holding the cane and just below his back, right hand on his chest as he did so. "Naruto. At your service, M'lady."

She straightened, putting a finger to her scarlet lips. "Marianne would suffice...Naruto? Hmm, strange name. Tell me, Naruto, what is the world like?"

The blonde tore his gaze off her chest, mentally cursing the neckline that plunged too deeply and showed too much skin for him to concentrate. "Much has changed. Magic has been forgotten by the humans of the surface in favor of another source of energy evolution has granted them that they call chakra. No one wears plate armor these days. Now, they are hunter-killers and assassins, throwing destruction from all elements, casting great illusions, and summoning beasts as large and dangerous as dragons. In many ways, they are more dangerous than they once were."

The brown-haired vampire shrugged. "It is to be expected. Humans have always been the most adjustive of us all. It wouldn't be so bad if their changes weren't almost always better than the last one." She looked intently at him. "You speak as if you were of the past that survived to the present. By any chance are you not human?"

The Jinchuuriki smirked. "In a way, I am not. But officially, I am a human."

"Care to explain?"

A chuckle. "Forgive me, but there are some secrets one does not reveal to just anyone."

Her beautiful emerald eyes twinkled dangerously. "Is that so? Would you at least give me a reason why you awakened me?"

He had expected the question, and he inclined his head upwards to look her square in the eye. A few seconds passed, and something seemed to **click**. He wouldn't be able to look away now, but neither could she, and as he lowered some of his mental barriers; opening his thoughts to her, he felt her do the same.

She was surprised at what he had done, having never expected a human to be so..._open,_ for to allow another to look at one's thoughts was a sign of incredible trust and character, for it made one vulnerable. Very much so.

Few humans had enough skill to lower the instinctive barriers and risk the danger, even fewer had the confidence and trust to actually do so.

He spoke. "A war of the likes that have been only seen once before is about to commence. Time runs short for everyone, and I need yours-nay, EVERYONE'S help, if we are to survive. You know what I mean. The histories before the Great Remaking were available to you Originators, being one of the Great One's first creations. The bars weaken, the prisoners grow restless, and when they escape, all the world must stand together if we are to survive."

Slowly, he closed his eyes, severing the connection, and his mental barricades reasserted themselves. He looked at Marianne, who was frowning heavily.

She sighed. "It seems that not even the Great One could keep them bound forever. I always thought he was too merciful for his own good."

Naruto shook his head. "No. The Great One was the best of us all. If no one of power is truly benevolent, then what hope do any of us have? He is the light at the end of the tunnel, the shining example that we all strive to be."

The Emerald Queen laughed, and the blonde smiled slightly. "You are wise. Incredibly so, for a human." She studied him with a critical eye. "I have a hard time believing you are not one of the Ancients." She shrugged, before her eyes gained a steely edge that contained a depth innumerable to almost anyone. "Very well Naruto. You have my aid."

Naruto smiled.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If any were around to watch, they would have been dumbfounded at what they saw happen to the stony mountain.

The mountain the fortress had been buried in had been a rather blunt one, having a rough plateau for a peak instead of a point. Nonetheless, it was a mountain, and a large one at that, and the peak had a bit more than a third of its diameter, and it was on this that the fortress rose from.

The hard rocky ground broke as the pointed ends of the towers pierced them. Then followed the castle, an imposing structure of dark green rock. The ramparts and walls were soon to come, along with other lesser castle and mansions and houses, until finally, there was a fortified city on top of the mountain, made entirely out of the dark green rock.

Naruto blinked in surprise, studying the structures from a windowed room in the main castle. "Incredible." He muttered.

Marianne smiled proudly. "It is, isn't it? It's the place we live in, and the place where we are most protected. If you hadn't used the tunnel made for my dead subjects, you would have been turned into a pile of flesh the moment you stepped into the field."

The blonde raised an eyebrow, before turning back to view the city. He knew those things full well thank you very much.

Marianne proceeded to open the window and jump out.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, but he retained enough sense not to stop her.

She freefalled, but suddenly, pale wings sprouted from her back, allowing her to glide downwards. She landed softly, and they sunk back into her skin. The Jinchuuriki sighed, and with a shunshin, he was beside her. She raised an eyebrow at him, but decided not to pry for secrets. "I wasn't the only survivor of the Emerald Kingdom from the Blood Wars. There are others who didn't perish." She frowned. "I was the first to sleep the deep sleep, and I brought my castle down with me. However, since the entire fortress was underground, that means all the survivors eventually did the same."

She looked at him, and blushed, embarrassed. "Forgive me for asking this of you, but if we had been awakened properly, we would be pleasantly full, having just enough blood to last us the entire duration of the sleep, and even if we weren't, there would have been volunteers who would offer their blood. Unfortunately, my subjects have died out, and they are either dead, or in the blood-thirst by now."

The blonde stared at her. "You want me, to be a blood donor for every vampire that's survived. Do I get that right?"

She nodded.

Naruto groaned. "I hate my life."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later, Naruto was clutching his sore neck and glaring at the several dozen flushed green-eyed vampires around him.

Sixty-three survivors besides Marianne. Five of them male (it seems that the superior sex was dependent on the gender of the Originator, so that means the Azure Kingdom survivors would mostly be male. Alright, that's it, he was going to bring some blood packs, or better yet, worthless prisoners, with him when he awakes the Azure King). It was any vampire-fetishists' wet dream, and he probably would have liked it if it weren't for the fact that his neck hurt after so many bites. Ugh.

"That's the last of them, right?" He asked, and Marianne nodded. He sighed in relief. "Good. I think I'm running out of blood after all that you guys drank. Any other loose ends Marianne?"

"Just one." She turned to the vampires. "I'll be going with him. I want you to get everything in order when I get back, and preferably, we have some humans in our services when I do. I'll be fixing the defenses as I leave, so don't worry." They nodded, and with that, she turned around and started walking beside him.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Humans...in your services?"

She shook her head. "It's not what you think it is. We actually do hire them. We pay them to do what normal servants do, and extra for the feeding. We don't kill them. Any fatalities are accidents, and those aren't, are punished accordingly."

He put a hand to his chin. "And some...actually turn their entire family towards being your servants?"

"Why not? The pay is good, and to be honest, my kind is a lot nicer than the others. The bastard that started the Blood Wars was an asshole that every one of his kin tried to be even worse than, and he treats them more as slaves than anything else. The Scarlet Vampires, while quite cordial, are too...debauched, for normal humans. And the Azure Vampires, while being the paragons of politeness, literally have no emotions. You have no idea how chilling that is."

"Ahh..."

"...Naruto, how are you going to go down?" Marianne asked as they passed the gates, the defenses pulsing briefly to signify their implementation. The gates closed, eerily silent.

He blinked. He looked down. The ground seemed a long way down...

Drat. The Silver Fangs were perfect for getting to the top. Launch a blade, reel yourself to it, launch the other one, repeat until at the top. But going down? Yeah...maybe he could run downwards? He looked at a long, thick, flat, rock nearby. He grinned.

Marianne blinked in surprise as Naruto grabbed the rock and proceeded to ski down the mountain as if he was using a snowboard in winter. She noted the subtle movements of the earth that wouldn't be found normally when one did such a thing. Ahh, so he could manipulate the ground.

She grinned, and once again, wings formed on her back, and she flew downwards. He said that humans resembled spellcasting hunter-killers these days didn't he? Interesting...

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yagura stared down at Kiri from the Mizukage tower. Maelstrom had been true to his word. The tense ceasefire they had feared had not come to pass. Missions galore had come to them from many nobles and merchants, while many businessmen were suddenly happy to trade with them.

Every ninja with a kunai to spare suddenly had an abundance of missions to complete, and if there was any actual hate between the bloodline-users and the purists, they were too busy frantically carrying out as many missions as they could to care.

Eat hearty, sleep well, get a mission, finish it, then go back to the village for a quick respite. Rinse and repeat. This was practically the national schedule for every ninja, and Yagura had to admit, it was doing everyone well.

Naruto had suggested teaming up hardcore bloodline-users and stubborn purists, and though he had been horrified at first, he found out that it actually yielded results. Prejudice had died out like maggots thrown in the fire, as nothing bred camaraderie like surviving constant life-and-death situations.

He looked behind him. "So...you finally came back."

The air shimmered, and a bubble of color peeled away, revealing a black-haired young man in a blue kimono, a bamboo canister hanging from one shoulder and holding a strange pipe-thing. Utakata; Rokubi (six-tails) Jinchuuriki.

The bubble he was in popped, and he settled lightly on the ground. He looked over at the village. "The people. They are...changed." He looked at Yagura. "How?"

Yagura smiled. "Maelstrom helped us. He freed me from the illusion and ended the war, and the influx of missions and trade you see now is all thanks to him. Speaking of wars, why weren't you in it?"

The bubble-user sniffed. "I'm not so dumb as to endanger myself needlessly. I may be the Jinchuuriki of the Rokubi, but with your control, it can go either way. I'll even say you have a higher chance of winning."

The Sanbi Jinchuuriki raised an eyebrow. "You speak as if you would have fought against me."

"You were a crazy bloodthirsty bastard. If I was going to enter the war, I wouldn't side with a man like that."

Yagura laughed. "Understandable."

Utakata put a hand to his chin. "So. Maelstrom. What kind of man is he?"

"Kid actually. He's twelve. But to answer that question; well, he's a deadly little guy, skilled like the greatest of prodigies. He's witty and calculating, and couple that with the fact that he has the best spy network I have ever heard of in my life, well, few are those that can oppose him."

The Rokubi Jinchuuriki snorted. "Sounds like an asshole."

Yagura immediately discouraged this notion. "Actually, he's a very nice guy. Sure, it's very scary to even think of going against him, but it comes with the power I guess. Trust me, you'll like him when you meet him."

"Just give me the damn mission scroll." Utakata muttered, and Yagura threw said scroll at him, which he easily caught.

It was S-rank.

Yagura grinned at him. "Give them hell boy."

Utakata nodded, and blew a bubble around him, which started to float.

"Oh, and one more thing."

Utakata looked down at Yagura.

"It's good to have you back."

The Rokubi Jinchuuriki smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Halt! Who goes there?" The Kiri guard yelled out, eyes narrowing as two figures from the mist rapidly approached the entrance.

The two shapes loomed close, a step short of out of the mist, and the four Nins tensed.

A black, perfectly-trim shoe and pants extended out of the mist, followed by a gray rod. A clacking sound ensued, one that everyone in Kiri had familiarized with a certain blonde hero.

The Kiri Ninja immediately went into salutes at the sight of Maelstrom, who was smiling nonchalantly at the guards, his cane thrust into the ground. "I trust you know who I am, or has everyone suddenly forgotten me?" They shook their heads, inadvertently catching sight of the beautiful female beside him. They all stared.

Marianne smiled politely at them, but when staring turned to leering...

The four immediately stopped the moment they felt a dread chill run down their spines. Recognizing a superior when they felt one, they looked resolutely away, making great pains not to look at the paradigm of beauty.

Marianne glared at them, before huffing and walking away.

They glanced at Maelstrom, hoping to ask who she was, but the question died on their lips when they saw his cold visage, cerulean orbs glaring with an intensity normally found in predators fighting for their mates.

A growl rumbled from the blonde's throat, before he stalked past them, trailing back to Marianne.

The moment the two were out of earshot, the Nins looked at each other, disbelief written all over their faces.

"You don't think...?" One started, a question at the end.

Another nodded. "She has to be."

The third gulped. "My god, Maelstrom sure knows how to pick them. Now THAT is what I call a woman!"

The fourth shrugged. "This is Maelstrom we're talking about. We probably should've expected something like that."

They all nodded in agreement, before four more ninja came by to replace their shifts, and they immediately went on to spread the word:

Maelstrom's got a girlfriend, and she's HOT!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Marianne sighed. "Sometimes, the allure really gets on my nerves. It's hard to take a man seriously when he's staring at your chest. Good thing you're not like them, right Naruto?"

Naruto immediately stopped staring at her ass, mentally berating himself and wishing he had an off button for his libido. "Err, right." He decided to change the topic. "You know, you didn't have to come with me."

The Emerald Queen sniffed. "Nonsense. You asked for my aid, and that means your allies are my allies. Besides, I am new to this world, and it would do me well to understand its people."

He acquiesced to her logic. "Very well. I must warn you though, the leader has a demon sealed within him. Though he may give off demonic energy, do not attack him, for he has full control of his demon."

She nodded. "Full control? That is a surprise. The demon is either pathetic, or he has an incredible will that one."

Naruto chuckled. "Sanbi, pathetic? Now that will be the day. No, Yagura simply has phenomenal willpower."

Marianne put a hand to her chin. "I presume Sanbi is the demon, and Yagura is the human, yes? Hmm, strange names you humans have." She looked around her, noting the clothes of the villagers. "Even stranger, you do not fit anywhere here. By any chance, is everyone unaware of the old times, and you are the only human to wear such clothes?"

The blonde smiled. "They have. I wear this by virtue of the fact that they are comfier, and I think they look more stylish than any of the clothes the nobles these days wear." He stopped, as his belly rumbled loudly. He blushed. "Forgive me, but it seems that my stomach is empty. Would you mind eating before we meet up with the leaders?" He blinked, repeating what he said in his head. "Wait, forgive me, I forgot, you only drink..." He trailed off.

She shook her head. "I can eat normal food, though it only sustains me by a fourth of what it does to you, and I cannot eat that much of it in the first place."

Naruto smirked. "Is that so? Well then, I guess that means I have to make every bite worthwhile." He led her to an obviously expensive restaurant. The kind where even rich people would need to get a reservation months in advance before being able to so much as step in.

The man at the door took one look at Naruto, and his eyes widened comically, before he immediately put his head inside the door and started yelling for things. Marianne could feel her blonde comrade grinning on the inside, though his face was a mask of aristocratic boredom.

They stepped up to the man, and he immediately bowed his head. "Lord Maelstrom. Forgive us, we didn't know you were coming. If we did, we might have been able to prepare a feast appropriate for one of your station."

Naruto laughed, and the sound seemed to settle a great weight from the man's shoulders. "Head up man. I make it a habit to make sure no one knows what I will do next. Now, get me and the lady Marianne beside me a table for two, preferably one away from the sun, and send in a waiter. I'm quite famished." The man nodded, and he immediately led the two in.

The inside was glorious, not an inch of the walls lacking a beautiful carving or so. Numerous works of art hung from said walls, beautiful furnishings lying everywhichway, while eight eye-catching jade pillars supported the ceiling, the second floor accessible by a grand stairway.

The man tensed when Marianne looked at everything with a critical eye, and breathed a silent sigh of relief when she nodded appreciatively. Smiling, he led them up the stairs and into one of the doors, opening it with a flourish.

The walls and floor were made out of a black wood, the walls lacking any embellishments. But there was a reason for that, as they were full of stone carvings of a midnight motif, the white stone a stark contrast to the black wood. Hanging from the ceiling were multicolored paper lanterns, their diverse colors bringing vivid light to the room.

The man sat them down, before leaving the room, saying; "I'll be bringing the waiter sir, madam." He was calm when he stepped out of their view, but the moment he did, it didn't take the grand skills the two had to know that was running as fast as he could for the waiter.

Marianne looked at him. "Do you have that kind of effect on everyone?"

Naruto chuckled. "Not at all. Only on the ones that work for me, are really damn scared of me, or worship the ground I walk on." He frowned at the last one. "When I was a child, I thought it would feel good to be worshipped, but it got boring really fast. Makes me wonder how gods feel..."

The Emerald Queen raised an eyebrow. "Which are they?"

"One and two, though I have no damn idea why they're scared of me."

She laughed. "Whichever way you did it, you killed a devil. They have good reason to do so."

The door burst open, revealing the rather round head chef, panting heavily from exertion.

Naruto smiled. "Ah, Majuro-san. Good to see you."

It took Majuro five more seconds before he was able to go fully upright. "Lord Maelstrom, it is an honor to serve you. Do you want anything in particular?"

The blonde gave a Cheshire grin. "Surprise me."

Majuro blinked, before he himself developed a grin much like Naruto's. "Oh I will sir. I will." He walked out.

Marianne raised an eyebrow. "Am I wrong to assume that the man has a rather competitive streak against challenges?"

"No you're not."

She grinned. "He better be good."

"Oh, he is. I wouldn't have put my money on him if he wasn't."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The food wasn't just good, it was outstanding, even Marianne said so, and he knew she ate like a queen in her day.

Marianne licked off some sauce from her fingers, and Naruto resolutely looked away, wondering why the heck she had to look so damn sexual with everything she did. _'Maybe it's a vampire thing?' _He wondered, and frowned when he received no answer. True, vampires were unusual, but they WERE part of the Multiverse of the Elemental Nations, so why wasn't he getting any information?

He blinked, noting the sudden intense gaze Marianne was giving him. "Yes?"

She frowned. "I hope not to be rude, but eating has made hungry for the more...vital, part of my diet."

He nodded, gesturing to the waiters at hand. "Leave." They nodded, and he locked the door, before loosening his collar and craning his neck to the side, giving full view to the blood-pumping veins.

She stalked towards him, beautiful and predatorial. She grabbed his shoulders, leaning to his neck, and something sharp brushed his throat, followed by a cold breath that tingled his skin, before she bit into him. He expected pain, just like the first time, but strangely enough, it felt more like the patch of skin she had bitten had turned numb. Seconds later, his eyes widened as a stirring pleasure traveled from his neck to all over his body, and he started breathing faster, heart rate increasing, as his arms encircled her lovingly. It was something other than the saliva, that much he knew, but what it was, was a mystery.

She shuddered, emitting a sound that was a cross between a gasp of shock and a moan of pleasure, before sinking her fangs deeper still, her body shaking in sexual glee. He felt his mind cloud, the first sign of the vampiric narcotic, and in that moment, he repeated an ancient exercise, forcing his heart to reduce its speed and his lungs to slow down, pulling his arms from her body. He put his palms on her stomach, and a quick pulse of chakra sent her stumbling away.

She nearly tripped over her own feet, her emerald eyes seemingly shining, her face flushed red and her chest breathing deeply and erratically, the action doing interesting things to her breasts.

The cane appeared in his hand, and he took a step away from her, frowning as he tried to work through the narcotic. "Marianne, control yourself." He clenched his fist, and found that he could not feel much at all, only a deep longing to be with Marianne, for as long as he possibly could...

The Emerald Queen blinked, before her eyes widened. She put a hand to her mouth in shock. "Oh dear, oh dear! Forgive me, I lost control of myself, I-..."

He swayed on his feet, feeling his mouth turn upwards in a lusty grin at her despite his best efforts, so he hit himself over the head with the cane. It helped, but not much. "If you know of a way to get your saliva out of my body, then please do it now, before I turn into a lovestruck fool and start kissing the ground you walk on." _'If I'm not one already that is...'_

She bit her lip, before striding towards him and biting him once more. He felt her stiffen, before relaxing, and he felt his thoughts clear greatly. She immediately leaped away from him, panting heavily, body shaking.

He frowned, a hand over the place on his neck where he had been bitten. "What...happened?"

She sighed, slumping against the wall. "Your blood...I never noticed it at first since I was feral, but..." Her eyes dilated, and her body shook in pleasure.

His eyes widened. _'Well, hell. Did she just orgasm?...okay, not a good thought to have right now. Bad brain between my legs, stop thinking...' _"What's wrong with my blood?" _'Besides possibly being a Viagra for vampires?'_

She stopped shaking, and she hugged herself, mewling pitifully. "There is something..._other, _in it. Something that tastes..." She had another orgasm then. "..._**divine**_…" The last word was said the way a fanatical priest would talk about his god, and Naruto was seriously freaked out.

She closed her eyes, and instantly, the shaking stopped, and she rose, a cold shell of a woman, but no less beautiful for it. She looked at him. "I doubt every human tastes like you do, so whatever happens, DO NOT, let any other vampire have a taste of you. If it overwhelmed one such as me, then even the Azure vampires will lose their cool. You are like a spring of Everwater. Overwhelmingly rare, a taste of nirvana from the time of the Great Remaking. Wars will be fought if how you taste is made public."

'_Okay, let me get this straight; for some reason, my blood tastes like Everwater, which from what I know, made gods kill each other for springs of it...okay, she's right. I'm gonna be royally screwed over if they discover that.'_

She studied him with a clinical detachment, no trace of emotion on her porcelain face. "How? My kind has never encountered something like this before. What makes you different?"

He didn't truly know, but her mention of _other _made him think of the entity. But no, it had been a mental gift, not a physical one...right? He shook his head. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

All was silent for a several minutes, before Naruto decided to bring up a subject. "Shades, Abominations, Vampires, you're all myths to the humans of this era Marianne. I haven't gotten around to introducing your kind yet, but I will. It'll help if you can keep it under wraps for a few months."

She nodded tersely, and they stepped out of the room, leaving a generous tip; no payment, he owned them after all.

Outside, Majuro was waiting for them. "How was it?"

Marianne smiled. "Outstanding." The head chef beamed.

The two prepared to walk down the stairs, but Majuro put a hand on Naruto shoulder. "Mistress Marianne, would you mind if I talked to Lord Maelstrom for a moment?" She frowned, but shook her head.

Majuro led him into another room, and Naruto scowled. "Majuro, this better be impor-" He blinked, noting the rather serious expression on the normally jovial man's face.

"Sir. By any chance, are you and the lady Marianne...together?" Naruto blanched, then blushed, quickly shaking his head, and Majuro sighed. "Ahh, so you haven't told her yet." He smiled. "Beautiful woman my lord, has a great personality from what I've seen so far too. Magnificent choice." He frowned. "You two were all smiles at the start. Why so grave?"

Naruto grimaced. "It's...complicated." _'It just turned out that my blood tastes like divine food to vampires. Makes me wonder how she manages to keep herself from drinking me dry then and there...'_

Majuro nodded. "Very well. I will admit that I am not an expert on love my lord, but I know that look. One way or another, you're smitten with her, and a woman like that...hmph! Suitors will be flocking for her heart any day now. I know you my lord. You are a daring man, and I wonder what can it be that holds you from courting her."

'_Only the fact that she's a vampire queen nearly as old as creation, and I'm supposed to be her ally, a teenage boy that feels like a pauper when around her. Let's not even think of' the fact that my entire lifespan probably seems to pass like the blink of an eye for one so ancient.'_

"My advice for you, my lord, is to do all you can to earn her affection. Love comes fleeting, and I am a lucky man to have caught it while it was before me." His eyes twinkled, obviously thinking about his wife.

Naruto frowned, but he eventually nodded, and left. He must have seemed pretty contemplative, because Marianne didn't bother to ask, most probably thinking it was something concerning business. He glanced at her, noting her beautiful features, before looking away.

It was lust and her vampiric allure working on him. It had to be. He forced his emotions away. There were more important things to be done.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yagura blinked as something seemed to make the men outside the door panic, before it opened, and in came Maelstrom, smiling a soft smile and twirling the cane that seemed a permanent part of his person. "Yagura. I hope I didn't come in at a bad time."

The fourth Mizukage shook his head. "Not at all."

Mei, his official advisor, was about to greet the blonde when Marianne walked in. It was like a switch had been pulled and a spotlight had suddenly honed in on her, as the beautiful vampire strode in with all the grace of a hunting cat and the poise of a queen. She arched a perfect eyebrow, her light brown curls ceasing to bounce from her movement. "Yagura? So you are the man Naruto talked so much about." She sniffed, somehow making the act seem refined. "Seawater. A water demon? What a surprise."

The ex-rebel leader frowned. "Naruto, who is this...woman?"

Naruto gestured to her with a flourish. "Allow me to introduce you to one of my allies, which means that ergo, she's one of YOUR allies. Marianne Dekorum, the Emerald Queen."

Marianne moved, striding over to Naruto side and hooking her arm through his elbow when he moved the limb, somehow making it look completely natural as if they had both planned it, radiating an aura of a predator guarding its food. The Originator curtsied. "A pleasure to meet you, Yagura,..." She turned to Mei, silently asking for her name.

"Mei Terumi." The auburn-haired woman replied tersely.

Marianne smiled a predatory smile. "...Mei."

Yagura frowned, noting a sudden tension in the air. Okay, now that was just freaky. "So, Naruto, any reason for dropping in?"

The blonde hid his surprise with a frown, for all the world oblivious to the glaring contest between the two females. "Ah, I was just here to check on the teams being sent to the Chuunin Exams. That, and to tell you that I'm gonna be gone for a while. Settling business transactions, blackmailing nobles, scaring the crap out of politicians, the usual. Oh, and how's Haku and the gang doing?" Said gang chose that time to materialize in the office.

Haku blinked in surprise at the sight of him, before smiling and waving happily at him. "Hello Naruto!"

The blonde's smile curved even more. "Haku." He looked at Ranmaru, noting the ninja gear and the Lightning Fangs strapped to his back. "Good." He nodded in appreciation, before looking at the last one: a rather muscled teen with grayish skin, black hair, and iron-gray eyes. "Well, who's the new guy?"

The 'new guy' looked steadily at him. "Naaki of the Tetsu clan, Maelstrom-sama."

Naruto's eyes twinkled. "Tetsu? Care to show me an example?" Naaki threw something upwards; a gray ball of metal, and with a frown of concentration, it erupted into a thousand needles, all heading for Naruto.

The blonde grinned, and a gesture from his hand had a current of air channeling the needles into a constant circle around him and Marianne, before he sent it back at Naaki, who turned them back into a ball before it could hit him. He chuckled at Yagura. "Good. I daresay you've done quite well in making sure the shinobi live up to the stories." He looked at Zabuza. "So, the Demon of the Bloody Mist has become a jounin sensei. What a surprise. How does it feel?"

The bandaged man grinned. "I get to order around a bunch of brats, while I can torture them with the excuse of 'training'. Oh, hell yeah it's good." The genins proceeded to glare at him at his confession of the 'training'. This was ignored by the swordsman when he noticed Marianne. "Hey, who's the chick?"

Zabuza immediately knew this was a wrong move the moment Naruto's smile turned forced, a twitch forming on his cheek while his eyes gained a murderous glint that seriously scared the man. "Marianne Dekorum, the Emerald Queen."

The swordsman turned to her. "Uhh...hi?" Marianne was frowning, and she pointed her palm at him, before moving it as if pushing someone.

Zabuza shot away, breaking through the walls and falling with a scream. The remaining occupants (sans Naruto) stared at her.

She huffed. "The man was rather disrespectful."

Naruto shrugged, deciding he wouldn't be doing anything horrible to Zabuza since Marianne already did something. "He's Zabuza. He can't change his nature." He looked at the ninjas. "Don't look so surprised. If the Hozuki can turn themselves into water, then what's wrong with a bit of telekinesis?"

Marianne took another sniff, and shifted direction, glaring at the wall. "Show yourself, demon."

Her words had the Bloodsteel Blades appearing in Naruto's hands, while the rest of the ninja prepared jutsus.

A sphere of color faded, revealing a man in a blue kimono; Utakata. The bubble popped, and he settled silently on the floor. "Demon? Now that's rather insulting. I am but the cage."

Mei blinked in surprise. "Utakata? When did you get here?"

The Rokubi Jinchuuriki shrugged. "A week ago, give or take a day or two." He approached Yagura, giving him a scroll. "Mission complete. The payment is inside."

Marianne glanced at Naruto. "ANOTHER demon container?" He nodded, and she arched an eyebrow. "How many are there?"

"Nine." She 'hmmed' at the answer.

Naruto turned to the blue-clothed man, the cane once again in his grasp. "Utakata; Rokubi Jinchuuriki. I've heard many things about you, all of them quite impressive. It makes me wonder why you weren't in the war. It would have helped...substantially."

Utakata shrugged. "It would have been a bother to choose sides. And besides, considering that you won without much trouble, I wasn't needed in the first place wasn't I?" The blonde nodded, and the Rokubi Jinchuuriki gazed at him with a critical eye. "So you've heard of me. I, however, have not heard much of you. What are you, to have done so much for one so young?"

Naruto's smile turned rather pensive. "What am I?" He chuckled. "That, Jinchuuriki of the Rokubi, is a question I myself seek the answers for." He turned to Yagura. "So, your cousin is part of ninja corps now, is he?" The Mizukage nodded, and he laughed. "Good, good, good. That means a higher chance of winning." The blonde glanced at Zabuza's team. "Make sure to include Zabuza's team in the list. I trust they'll be quite helpful. Now, if no one minds, we'll be leaving." He inclined his head to the occupants, before looking at Marianne. "My lady?"

She smiled, the action sinful and oh so very insinuating. "Of course." The way she said it made it sound illegal, and Yagura noted the glimmer of surprise in Maelstrom's eyes, before in a rush of shadow and leaves, they were gone.

Utakata looked at Yagura. "I told you he was an asshole." He suddenly grinned softly, but even that disappeared after a moment. "But you're right, I do like the bastard, though I have no idea why."

Zabuza climbed back in, having seen the final display between Naruto and Marianne as he prepared to pull himself to the room. He looked at Mei's unnaturally irate face, before deciding to throw caution to the wind. "Is it me, or does it seem as if the chick and Naruto's into each other?"

Haku twitched, and Mei nearly broke the scroll she was holding.

Zabuza stared at them, before groaning. "Lucky sonuva bitch..." He swore.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They appeared several miles away from the village, on a rare dry spot of land.

For several moments, there was an awkward silence, before Marianne slipped out of his elbow.

He turned to her. "What was all that for?"

She bared her fangs with a smile, and he couldn't help but feel attracted to her despite the obvious sign of inhumanity. "I was merely protecting what is mine."

Naruto blinked, several times. "What's yours? Okay, I KNOW I read up on vampire's right, and no way does being an ally turn you into their property."

She stalked over to him, a strange twinkle in her eye. She leaned a bit, so that their faces were level, and he felt her cold, murderously pleasant breath on his skin. "That...is not what I am talking about."

His eyes widened at what she meant. "I thought...that you were going to avoid me because of that."

She laughed, taking a step away from him. "And why did you think that? Because I lost control? Oh dear boy, as precious control of the Bloodthirst is, there is one thing more precious than that." She put the tip of her finger on his chest. "Blood. Nothing is more precious than blood. We do not turn away from our pleasures Naruto, we embrace it, while it lasts, and you are such a great pleasure, with a lifespan that is, at most, a hundred and twenty years." She chuckled. "Oh no. I won't be wasting any of my days. I'll be milking you for all you're worth."

He stared at her. For some reason, it didn't sound so damn bad, especially with the way she said it. The implications were enormous!

...

Okay bad dick, stop thinking.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kotetsu and Izumo had been busy playing shogi (Japanese chess...I think...) when the procession arrived; a magnificent jade carriage lined with gold and pulled by twin gigantic horses, each one of them as tall as two men, with skin a dark red and pulsing green eyes. A man covered completely by a black cloak held the reins.

The carriage was guarded by twelve shadowy figures; their forms blurring and changing in the sunlight, but always retaining their humanoid form.

The two stared as the procession stopped a footstep short of the gates, before they realized that they were waiting for them. They tripped several times trying to rush outside and not insult the obvious noble outside, and after fifteen seconds, they managed it, standing by the side of the carriage, facing the tinted windows.

Slowly, the glass slid open, revealing a blonde-haired blue-eyed man.

"Uhh...i-ident-tification, s-sir." Izumo asked, sweating nervously at the stern gaze from the frozen blue eyes.

"I am Lord Maelstrom, escorting Lady Marianne Dekorum." He pulled out a scroll, and gave it to them. All they needed was one look to now it was genuine, and they immediately let them pass.

The procession continued, gathering not a small amount of fanfare as it moved across the streets, the crowd parting for the aristocrats. They stopped in front of the most prestigious hotel in Konoha, and the door opened, the blonde stepping lithely down, before turning to the other occupant and helping her down with all the dignity of a perfect gentleman.

Offering an elbow to her, she gladly took it, and they sauntered to the front of the hotel, where a single clipped order from Naruto had the occupant of the best room kicked out in five minutes. It had been quite amusing to see the furious obese man stop in his enraged tracks at the sight of the man that had ordered his expulsion.

Naruto had smiled, a toothy grin that reminded everyone that had seen it of a cat eyeing a bird with clipped wings that had been offered to it. The noble had ran away faster than anyone thought the fat man could ever ran.

Marianne giggled, before looking upwards to the sun. She turned her gaze elsewhere immediately, a forlorn smile on her face, like a moth that knows fire is death, but could not disregard its beauty.

The manager arrived, telling them the room had been vacated, and that there was now room for their carriage and horses in the stables (nobles travel to other places multiple times, and them being the wimps they are, travelling on horseback would hurt their butt, being carried by a ninja would cramp their arms, and their men can't lift the litter for miles on end, so it stands to reason they'd use carriages).

Naruto nodded, and they continued their stride, Marianne giving the room a nod of approval.

The blonde extricated himself from her. "I trust this is to your liking? Now, if you don't mind, I have to settle some things in the village." Already, a whirl of wind had started forming, but shadows grabbed onto him, radiating a sudden burst of cold that ruined his concentration, ceasing the jutsu. He blinked, staring at the predatory smile on her face.

"Oh, but I DO mind. I haven't drunk from today, have I?" She told him.

He smiled nervously, before sighing, loosening his collar and baring his throat to her. She purred in delight, leaning in and sniffing at his neck delightfully, before she bit down. The same numbing experience as before, followed by the same stirring pleasure, only so much more intense.

She moaned in bliss, hugging him close to her, a leg curling around his own, and for a moment, it seemed she was about to lose control, before she tore herself away from him, an ecstatic smile on her face as she panted for breath, just as he was.

Slowly, their breathing got back to normal levels, and he smoothed himself out. "That enough for you?"

She smiled, and he shivered, not entirely in fear. "For today that is."

He cast a half-seal, and was gone.

Marianne stared at the place he had been standing on, before groaning, plopping down on one of the couches. She had a hand on her forehead, as if nursing a headache. "A Blood Bond. A Blood Bond with an ally. Oh, by the night, it wouldn't be so bad it was just as friends with benefits, but nooo, we HAD to develop a Blood Bond!"

A voice spoke, one she come to know very well since her creation. _**'**_**Considering his taste Marianne, it was bound to happen.'**

She frowned. _'Doesn't mean I have to like it. Empty Night, this is going to hurt when he dies.'_

'**Ahh, but DOES HE have to die?'**

The frown deepened. _'Turn him into one of hours? No, just, no.'_

'**Who ever said of turning him into a vampire?**

'_I highly doubt he's immortal.'_

'**And I highly doubt he's going to STAY mortal for long. There is more to the boy than even you can imagine Marianne, so much more.'**

She crossed her arms. _'And you're not going to clarify what you just said aren't you? Nor where you got the information in the first place.'_

A laugh. **'Of course not. But as for the information, well, simply being raw energy may mean I cannot connect to the main inhabitants of existence, but as a tradeoff, I can commune with the forces primal, the sources that know everything because they MUST know everything. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what they told me.'**

'_Then why tease me with information in the first place'_

There was a pregnant silence, almost as if it was embarrassed. **'Uhh...sorry?'**

She proceeded to give it the mental equivalent of throwing a bad pet out of the house and into the rain for the night.

The Source proceeded to sulk, before it smiled oh so very slightly. **'So much ahead of you dear boy. So much to be done. I wonder, how will you fair against the beings ancient when the world was new?' **It thought to itself, before the smile disappeared and it went back to sulking as Marianne did the mental equivalent of looking out of the house's window to make sue the pet was in a suitably sulky mood.


	12. Chapter 12

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**On a side note, PLEASE read my other fic; The Scion of the Hunter: Tribulations of the Mad. I want reviews in the bloody thing! (yes, I know this is blatant advertisement, but I want reviews in it. Now review it, or else! [in truth, I actually have no idea what to do if you don't review...])**

**Oh, and as an incentive, there's a lemon in it. Now THAT should have you rushing to read it...**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Training for the Chuunin Exams girl?"

Hinata 'eep'ed, very nearly jumping into the air in surprise at the sudden intrusion. Honestly, for all her family's boasting of having eyes that no one could get past by, a lot of people have a habit of sneaking in undetected.

She blinked, she knew that voice. She turned around, and there he was, resplendent in those strange but doubtlessly regal black clothes, leaning faintly on the gray cane he held in his hands.

His lips curved oh so slightly at her. "Surprised? You shouldn't be. Your family's eyes aren't as all-seeing as you think." He walked over to the post where she practiced her Jyuuken, worn out by the days of fingers being jabbed into it in training. He felt its texture; rough and battered. He seemed to nod approvingly. "Good...but not good enough."

Hinata's eyes watered. Did he just rebuke her? Okay, don't break down, you'll just look all that much more pathetic.

He pressed a finger to her forehead. "Not like that girl." Her jaw dropped at the audacity as he stepped back, that despicable smile still on his face.

Her face turned red, and she fumed. In response, he raised an eyebrow, almost mockingly.

...wait, this was Naruto they were talking about. He didn't do things almost.

Naruto sidestepped, avoiding a Jyuuken thrust, turning sideways to dodge another. He ducked, jumped, shifted direction, or took a step in another direction as the outraged Hinata tried to disable him, never once using more than a single step to avoid her attacks, until, around half an hour later, Hinata was panting heavily, nigh exhausted, while Naruto hummed annoyingly like the bastard he was.

"Water."

She blinked. "What?"

"Water." He repeated. "Jyuuken is strong Hinata, and though I understand the saying; 'Don't fix something that isn't broken', it doesn't apply when you know something IS about to break. Use water. It will improve the style, and it will be your key to passing this test, and so much more..."

Her eyes widened the second time in the last hour. "Change the Jyuuken? Th-That's sacrilege!"

"Your life or your tradition?"

She blinked. "Wha-"

She didn't get to finish the sentence as Naruto repeated it. "Your life or your tradition? Jyuuken is for defeating _ninja _Hinata. Against beings that don't use chakra, it is useless. This is your chance for greatness, to be the woman that leads your clan to victory when they discover their style has become obsolete. A change is-no, HAS come, and it spreads across the land like wildfire, bringing with it beings that are the stuff of legend. It is your choice. Do you take the leap of faith and hope for the best, or stay on the crumbling precipice, and know you will fall?"

He threw two scrolls at her, and she barely caught them. "These will help you if you choose to leap. Don't disappoint me girl."

She glanced at the scrolls, but when she looked back up to him, he was gone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey boss, is she your girlfriend?" Konohamaru asked Kiba as Sakura talked on and on about how stupid their sensei was and how cool Sasuke-kun was, having decided to prattle all this to Kiba since there was no one to talk to (even if she and Ino were still friends, the Yamanaka was actually training for the Chuunin exams).

Kiba all but laughed at the ridiculous notion. She was a weak civilian girl, and that was all she was. Like HELL she would ever be his girlfriend. Look at her! She couldn't even keep her mind off the duck butt-haired douche of an Uchiha! "Like HELL she is!"

The grandson of the Hokage breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good. For a second there I thought you had horrible taste in women."

All was silent, as Sakura stopped in mid-rant, before screaming in rage and attempting to strangle the fledgling ninja. "Get back here you little worm! I am not ugly!"

The little boy ran away, pulling the bottom of his eye to antagonize the pink-haired girl. "Yes you are! I mean, who has **pink **hair?"

Another wild screech that much resembled the banshee everyone thought she was, and she chased the little boy down several blocks. He seemed to hit something, as she heard his voice 'oof!' as he turned a corner, and sensed a chance to close the distance.

She did, turning the same corner, and stopped immediately, intimidated by the man in the black cat-suit with a bandaged object on his back. Normally, she would laugh at such a man, but after encountering people such as Zabuza, she knew a killer when she saw one.

He was scowling, a murderous glint in his eye as he held up Konohamaru by one arm. "What the hell kid! Don't you look where you're going?"

The little boy shivered. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I was running away from someone!"

A blonde girl with a large fan on her back behind him frowned. "Don't cause some trouble Kankuro, we don't want to anger Gaara."

Kankuro grinded his teeth together. "You caught me at a bad time kid." He threw back his arm, apparently in an attempt to throw the boy.

A flicker of the air, a whisper of the wind, a burst of killing intent so intense it made the two's blood run cold, for in a way, it was so much greater than Gaara's.

A hand grasped the one that held Konohamaru, barely touching the skin, and yet, Kankuro knew that if he so wanted to, he could squeeze, and every bone in his hand would by grinded to dust. Azure eyes opened, half-lidded and bored, looking at his own the way a god would look at an ant. "Listen to your sister boy. Violence against the son of the Hokage has...consequences." His voice was cold, oh so very cold, and the way he spoke of it suggested death.

Sweat beaded his face among twitching wide eyes, and his fingers dropped the boy.

A hand grabbed hold of Konohamaru's collar before he could hit the ground, and it gently let him down.

"Run boy." It was but a whisper, but the little boy nodded, running away as fast as he could from the black-clothed man with a cane.

His gaze turned back to the two, and they took a tentative step back, eyes wide at the blonde. He smiled, and they shuddered. "That...was a disaster averted. Watch yourselves Suna Nin. You aren't in the desert anymore." He suddenly shifted his sight to the trees. "Especially you boy. You aren't fooling anyone." A voice started, but he cut it off. "Not you Uchiha. You aren't even worth the attention of the dust I step on now. Maybe when you finally grow up."

Sakura gasped at this blatant proclamation, same as the Uchiha, but then, sand whirled, and a red-haired male with a large gourd on his back and a red tattoo on his forehead appeared.

The blonde girl and Kankuro backed away, staring at the two.

The cane-wielding man stood perfectly straight, the vision of a perfect gentleman in relaxation, as opposed to the feral redhead that stared at him with the intent to kill. The blonde spoke first. "Ah, so the Tanuki finally comes to the forest. All will be well Shukaku, so long as you do not step out of the boundaries." The cold blue eyes narrowed, and air turned cold, both figuratively and literally, as they could actually see their breaths as frost formed around them. "A single toe out of line however, and I will destroy you. The fox slumbers, bijuu, but something worse has taken her place."

Gaara was breathing heavily, and the two gasped when they saw his left eye bearing the golden shuriken of Shukaku. To the surprise of all, he inclined his head, gritting his teeth all the while. "I understand."

The cold disappeared, and the blonde gave a nod. "Good. Now, if no one minds, I have some matters to attend to. There are things worse than mad chakra demons after all." He glared at Sakura, who was about to object. "Weak fangirls don't count as persons swine. Do not speak to me ever again, not unless you actually get those stupid fantasies out of your head." Something like a crack of thunder occurred, and he was gone, leaving a circle of blackened dust around where he had last been.

Temari glanced at her little brother. "G-Gaara? Are you a-alright?"

He growled. "No. Mother is scared Temari. Mother is scared of that boy, and she howls all the more for it." He started walking, and the other two followed, despair clinging to their hearts at the thought of one who could cow their powerful weapon of a brother so easily.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yakumo stared, and stared. And stared.

Finally, she managed to hold up a pointed finger at the group. "YOU!"

Haku grinned, the action predatorial. "Yes. Me. Why, surprised?"

Kabuto looked between the two groups. "You two know each other?"

Sasuke stepped up, scowling. "Yes. She tried to kill us in our first mission out of Konoha."

Haku shrugged. "It was a job."

Naaki grunted. "If you're not ninja enough to accept that fact, then go home boy. In here, all the prestige you have is worth nothing, the only thing that matters are your skills and your intent to kill." The gray-skinned boy put a hand to his chin. "And from what I heard, that isn't all that much, since you tried to kill _yourself_ two seconds into feeling Zabuza-sensei's killing intent."

There were laughs all around, and the Uchiha fumed. He looked at Kabuto. "Show me the cards for their team!"

Kabuto hastened to obey, but before he could so much as start searching, senbons plunged into his wrist, before Ranmaru suddenly appeared beside him, his foot stomping onto Kabuto's hand, and he screamed, the sound accompanying the crack of shattered bones.

The purple-haired boy grinned sadistically, and the Konoha Nins stared at his filed shark-like teeth. "Advanced knowledge on us? I don't think so four-eyes." He tromped back to his group, arms crossed, smirking in satisfaction.

Hinata gulped. The timid boy they knew for a day had turned into a hardened killer nearly as bad as Zabuza. How bad could the others be?

She didn't have time to ponder about this was Ibiki appeared with a spreading pulse of killing intent, silencing all.

Ranmaru grinned once more. "I like this guy."

That didn't exactly help Hinata feel better.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The glass broke as a blurred figure shot through the opening, landing on the stage just as the smoke bombs detonated.

Simultaneously, a grand purple banner unfurled, covering the shattered window, saying: 'The Sexy and Single Mitarashi Anko!'

The smoke cleared, revealing a purple-haired kunoichi wearing a dangerously illegal miniskirt, trenchcoat, fishnet, and basically nothing else, her purple hair set in something reminiscent of a pinecone, bangs framing her pretty face as she grinned down at the genin.

She blinked, making a head count. "Thirty-four teams! What the hell Ibiki? Have you lost your touch?"

The bandanna-wearing man grunted. "Hardier bunch than normal, especially the mist-nin."

She sniffed. "Whatever. I'll cut the number in half just fine! Let's go boys and girls! Follow me!" She moved out, and the genin followed her into a line of barbed-wire fences enclosing a forest of really damn large trees. If they squinted, it seemed as if there were eyes looking back at them from the darkness.

Anko laughed. "Feast your eyes, on the Forest of Death! Home to hordes of really scary animals that would just LOVE to have some greenhorn genins for fun!" Attendants discreetly passed scrolls marked 'Heaven' and 'Earth' to each team. "The object of the test is go into the forest, take a heaven scroll if you have an earth scroll; or vice versa, from another team, and get to the building on the other side. You DO NOT open the scrolls unless you're at the building. That has instant disqualification. Here, sign these forms so that we won't get sued when you die, because trust me, some of you WILL die."

They finished signing it, and she spoke once more. "Alright, any questions?"

Sakura raised her hand, and instantly, a kunai shot out, cutting a deep furrow in her cheek, Anko appearing at her side with a grin. She sniffed, and immediately scowled. "Dear god, a fangirl?" She exclaimed in disgust, having smelled the shampoo. She stepped away, shaking her head in disappointment. "You're dead meat bitch. You should have tried another profession."

Anko shifted direction, a kunai pointing at the grass-nin that held up the kunai she had used with her tongue. "Don't do that again, unless you want to lose your tongue."

The grass-nin smiled. "Sorry, I was just going to give the kunai back to you."

Anko huffed, snatching the weapon from the genin and asking the chuunin-hopefuls to sign the forms that would clear Konoha of any and all legal transgressions from any injuries, deaths, or disablities that might occur from the exam, before ordering the teams to get to their gates. They obeyed, and a few minutes later, the siren rang, and they shot into the forest.

The snake mistress leaned on a tree scowling. "Fangirls. Dear god, _fangirls. _The only way one could've survived to the chuunin exams is either through really powerful teammates, or she hasn't been a ninja long enough to die from the _real _missions."

A voice spoke, and she shifted in its direction. "It's the latter one. God forbid an arrogant Uchiha being _powerful._ That's just a disaster waiting to happen."

She growled. "Who are you? Show yourself."

A laugh. "Oh Anko-chan, you wound me. Have you forgotten me even after I fixed that lingering problem of snake bite you had?"

Anko blinked, staring at the shadows. "No way..."

Another laugh, and the figure stepped out of the shadows, a blonde-haired blue-eyed man in a black Victorian suit holding a cane. "Yes way." He smiled. "Well, aren't you going to give an old friend a hug?"

She put away the kunai she had drawn. "Naruto."

The blonde chuckled. "Right on the first try Anko-chan."

The snake mistress gave him a once-over. She raised an eyebrow. "What's with the clothes?"

Naruto twirled the cane. "It's an old style that time has nearly washed away completely. Needless to say, it's quite comfy, and I daresay it looks suitably dashing." He smiled at her. "It seems freedom from the snake suits you very well Anko-chan. You are positively _radiant _compared to the last time we met."

She blushed, quite taken aback by how blatantly commentative Naruto was. He had been like that when they first met, speaking his mind with very little care for the consequences, and so murderously polite and, and..._gentlemanly, _that it seemed a grave sin to slap him for his audacity. It wouldn't be so bad if he was the six-year-old kid he was back then, but the one in front of her now was someone who quite clearly qualified as a _man. _

Naruto glanced at her neck. "So, how is it? Any problems?"

Anko smiled, rubbing the mark affectionately. "Not at all. Saved my pretty ass several times. None of the bastards expected the nasty surprise you gave me."

He nodded. "Good. I was afraid that there might be serious side-effects besides the slight shifting of your molecular structure and DNA, and minor changes in your personality, but you already knew that didn't you?" He squinted at her, before nodding in satisfaction. "Well, I guess any other changes may be attributed to happiness, so that's one less worry for me."

She frowned. "Why are you here? From what Hokage-sama told me about you, the only reason you'll be here would be to give me a cryptic warning, to help me, or ask me for a favor."

He grinned, showing larger-than-normal canines. "The first and the second. Though not so cryptic since I'm going to be straight to the point this time." He looked at the forest. "Orochimaru's sneaked into Konoha. He's the grass genin with the long tongue you took the kunai from."

The purple-haired woman wasted no time throwing said kunai away. "Anything else before I go in?"

He held up a hand, stopping her. "Of course, DO NOT go in yet. Nor will you sound the alarm. We don't want him knowing we're on to him and running away. Besides, this is Orochimaru we're talking about, caution is important." He walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me on this Anko, just as you trusted me when I changed the Cursed Seal for you. You'll get what you want, but you need to trust me."

She sighed. "Alright, what do I need to do?"

He stepped away when she calmed down. "First off, you need to know the situation. Orochimaru is here for two reasons. The first I'll say later since it will just extend the time with needless questions. The second is for the Sharingan. He seeks to obtain it, one way or another, thinking that it will let him master every jutsu in the world a hundred times faster than he normally does; the fool. He is going to attack Team Kakashi and put a Cursed Mark on Sasuke to have him defect from Konoha and come to him. Considering the sheer stupidity and lust for power of the boy, it's actually a viable plan."

She smiled, getting the gist of it. "So I take him on at that time."

He nodded. "Exactly."

Her gaze turned steely as she looked at him. "I'm going to fight him alone Naruto, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

He didn't rebuke her, just raise an eyebrow. He shrugged. "Very well. I guess you have a decent chance. You've mastered those scrolls I've been mailing you right? And he probably won't be expecting the changed Cursed Seal. However, if it seems as if you may die, I WILL step in, and there's nothing YOU can do to stop me."

She nodded. It was the best she would be able to get from him.

Naruto smiled. "Good. Now, it would do me good if you were to have some chuunins get an ANBU squad in here incase he escapes. One can never be sure..."

As he spoke, he wondered what the snake was doing right now.

He blinked.

Oh. Right.

...

He grinned.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somethings were approaching.

Many had come to it, all had died and been devoured.

For some reason, there had been a sudden influx of prey today. The somethings were already the fourth group to come to it.

It moved, shifting from tree to tree, and it saw the somethings; more prey. It squinted, and it noted that the one in the middle was a lot more powerful than the other prey it had eaten today. A predator.

It smiled, if something such as it could ever smile, and it attacked.

For too long it had eaten weak prey. Time to establish the hierarchy.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Orochimaru didn't know when it had happened. One moment, they were just hopping from tree to tree. The next, it seemed as if the entire forest had come alive, bark sprouting vicious thorns dripping caustic venom, the trees moving and trying to smash, strangle, whip, and just plain kill, him and his team.

The other two had died less than ten seconds into it. One crushed to a pulp by a falling tree (it hadn't fell so much as body-slammed the guy, as the tree had risen up in fifteen seconds), the other ripped to shreds by vines that had grabbed hold of his body and pulled him apart five different ways.

The snake Sannin shifted his head, barely avoiding somekind of projectile. He glanced in its direction, and blinked several times at the head of the second teammate. Holy hell. If that had hit, it would have cracked his skull at the very least!

A cracking, breaking sound occurred, and he stared at the sight of the vines tearing out large chunks of rock from the ground. If the man's head was any indication, he was screwed if any one of these hit.

The trees groaned, and they proceeded to fall at him, their branches whipping at him mercilessly even as they fell, all the time the vines catapulted the rocks at him.

He tried vainly to dodge, but as great as he was, they were just too many (I mean, come on! EVERY tree around him was trying to kill him, and those rocks, Jeezus!), and as he leaped away from a falling tree, he turned just in time to be hit by a rock the size of a house.

He crashed through the forest, propelled by the thrown boulder, and he crashed to the ground, a pulpy mess of earth.

From the tree next to it, thorned vines sprouted, winding over themselves to form a humanoid torso made entirely out of blackish vines, with a roughly spherical shape for a head and long thin arms ending in spindly fingers tipped with thorns. Twin points of green light burned on its 'face', the only feature it had that wasn't plantlike.

The Chlorofiend tilted its head to the side, studying the earth, before growling in annoyance. The predator, no, the prey; for it had run away, something no true predator would do, had used that strange copy ability of theirs, turning the material of its surroundings into a clone of it.

It shrugged. It had done what it had wanted. It had established itself as the one true predator. With that simple thought, it went back to its territory, lying in wait for prey.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sasuke and Kiba stared as the grass-nin ripped off her face, revealing a white-skinned one with yellow snake-like eyes.

She-no, HE, licked his lips, the action unsettling. "Impressive boy. You truly are an Uchiha." He started casting hand seals, and his neck elongated, mouth open, fangs bared, heading for Sasuke. "Let me give you a gift!"

A disk of fire erupted from nowhere, and he had to abandon the marking with a curse (no pun intended), preventing it from cutting off his neck.

"I don't think the boy would like a gift from Konoha's Most Wanted you snake." Anko muttered as she landed on a tree branch in a crouch.

Orochimaru grinned. "Ahh, Anko-chan. What a plea-"

He didn't get a chance for this as another Anko appeared beside him, and he leaped away to avoid the burning fist that turned the branch he had been on into ashes in a second. "Less talking, more fighting asshole!" She shouted, and with a half-seal, breathed out a cone of flame at him. He scowled, casting some hand-seals, before exhaling a strong gust of wind at her fire, the two forces canceling each other out.

Another Anko appeared behind him, stabbing into his neck, and he turned into a pile of earth.

The Anko landed on another tree. "Che. Clone." She muttered, before leaping away after him.

Naruto appeared beside her, and he clutched her arm, dragging her away in a sudden rush of three consecutive shunshins. He pointed in front of them. "He's right there. Go." He faded away, and she grinned, covering her arms in fire.

Orochimaru burst out of the foliage, and she laughed at his face as her punch connected squarely with his face, sending him crashing against a tree, shaking the plant. He groaned, rubbing his bruised face. "You've gotten better."

"You ain't seen nothing yet." She leaped at him, and he fired several large globs of water at her. In response, fire burst at her feet too, and she kicked and punched at the spheres, turning them into steam. He dodged her attacks, landing on the ground, and she followed. He dodged, blinking as she crash-landed where he had been on an instant ago, an explosion of hellish flame erupting where she had impacted.

The flames moved, and they collapsed in on themselves, coalescing back at her arms and legs. She grinned, and the fire at her legs moved to her arms, before she stomped on the ground. The earth exploded, spikes erupting at his feet, and he hastily spat out the Kusanagi, cutting them away.

She charged, the fire moving to her right, and as she ran, she put her left hand at the earth, and slowly, it rose, until she was running on what appeared to be a serpentine dragon of earth. She stopped at the head, and it roared, before heading straight for him.

Casting hand-seals, he slammed his palm on the earth, and in a burst of smoke, a gigantic snake rushed out to meet the earthen beast. The two terrors fought, and their summoners leapt from their heads, the air flashing as Orochimaru attacked with jutsus from all elements, gathered from years of mastering elements from everywhichway, while Anko fought with her specialty; mainly fire, but with intermittent uses of earth.

Lightning bolts sprang from the pale man's palms, and a rod of earth rose, charged with chakra, and the lightning bolts slammed into them. Disks of fire formed on her palms, and she threw a dozen at him. He sneered, forming a wall of water that managed to stand firm against the onslaught.

Abandoning the liquid defense, he launched spheres of wind at her, and she prematurely blew up said spheres, igniting the oxygen in them with a large swath of fire.

Smoke formed, and a roiling wave of fire erupted from it on Orochimaru's side. Anko slammed her palms onto the earth, and the ground rose up like a carpet several feet thick, curving upwards and backwards, before impacting the ground with a loud slam.

Before she could follow it up, something hissed, and she bounded away, only just avoiding the large summoned snake's charge. Its head rose up, shaking off the debris, and it hissed at her. She put her hands together in response, forming a soccer ball-sized sphere of fire, and as the snake rushed at her once again, she threw it into its open mouth, leaping over it.

The ball went deep into its gullet, and there was a sound much resembling a gas tank igniting, before the snake promptly exploded into a thousand bloody pieces.

She landed where it had been a second ago, grinning at the blood-soaked ground, before looking back at Orochimaru, who had been watching the exchange with a grin on top of the small mound her previous jutsu had formed. She threw several fireballs at him, and he countered with more spheres of water.

Steam formed from the exchange, and Anko blazed an onrushing wall of fire, the attack clearing out the mist and hitting the grove of trees behind the mist. No sign of Orochimaru.

Anko jumped away, just in time to avoid the blades of wind that cut deep into the hard-packed ground, lashing out with a whip of fire at the snake Sannin high up in the trees. He hopped down, finishing his handseals and landing on the ground with his palms on the earth.

The ground turned into loose mud, and she sank a foot into it, before it hardened completely, and before she could break off, a pulse of electricity ran through the ground, and she yelped in pain as it fried her nerves.

Gritting her teeth, she sent a pulse of earth chakra at her feet, shattering the surrounding ground and leaping away from the static area, firing a swath of fire as she did so. She glimpsed a kawarimi, and landed vertically on a tree, looking around her for her ex-mentor.

Something moved, and she jumped off the bark, dodging the boulder of solid stone the size of a small house that felled the tree. She looked in its direction, spotting Orochimaru right next to a large hole where the boulder came from, forming handseals.

She landed, and the head of a dragon rose right next to her. She sent out a swath of fire just as the dragon fired the chunks of earth, forming globs of burning earth.

Hand-seals were cast, and a devastating slashing wind formed, tearing apart the projectiles. Anko reacted by erecting a wall of earth.

She felt the wind stop, and she rolled away, barely avoiding him as he stabbed down with the Kusanagi from on high. She breathed deeply, and exhaled a dragon of fire with her hands on the ground, turning it into mud. He seemed to slip, and the dragon caught him in its fangs, burning everything to cinders.

For several moments there was silence, and all she could see of the burned expanse were ashes.

The snake mistress frowned. That wouldn't take him down. No way. She looked around her, before leaping away, barely avoiding the head that sprouted from the ground with the Kusanagi in its mouth. She rained fire down at him, but by then, he had sunk back down.

She landed, and she dug her hands arm-deep into the earth, casting a jutsu. The ground shook, and several meters away from her, he leapt out, barely avoiding the spikes of earth she had caused.

He started casting hand-seals, and when he landed, a multitude of snakes burst out of his sleeves, heading for her.

By the time she tore out her hands from the ground, they were already burning, and with a wave of her hand, fire spread towards the snakes, burning them to a crisp.

He scowled, and he fired a widening half-circle of lightning at her.

She leaped over it, but by then he had already cast another jutsu, a strong wind that sent her tumbling off-course. Before she even hit the ground, a ball of fire and a bolt of lightning crashed simultaneously onto her chest, and she slammed onto a tree trunk with a groan.

The earth leaped out, covering from the neck down, and Orochimaru appeared before her, smiling sickly. "Impressive girl. I actually had to get serious to take you down. Nonetheless, you're too far away to even come close to beating me."

Anko smiled. "Oh, but I have one more surprise."

It had been six years ago when Naruto first appeared to her. A little kid that she would have ignored all the same if it weren't for the Hokage being the one to suggest him to her. He had said that he knew of a way to change the Cursed Seal, to tear her away from Orochimaru's influence forever. Hiruzen trusted him, so she trusted him.

As it turned out, the boy was a seal master the likes of which she had never seen before. He took one look at her seal and immediately knew what to do. He used a seal to take out the 'source' of the Cursed Seal, making it a simple 'power-up' seal. Basically the same as the Cursed Seal. Pumped you up with chakra at the cost of your body's integrity, but it wasn't Orochimaru-based anymore.

What he had done then would have been enough, but he didn't leave anything unfinished. He started working on the power-up seal too. And in the end, she had a seal that siphoned her chakra when it was full into another 'container', one that could hold seven Kage-level chakra pools. More seals turned the chakra in the container into something extraordinary. Needless to say, the constant drain helped her develop a larger chakra pool, until eventually, she herself HAD a Kage-level chakra pool.

She had tried it out, and since the chakra didn't come from her body's reserves, it didn't damage her. Tired her out a bit sure, but didn't damage her. It actually healed her in fact.

From her appearance, he had given it a name she wore proudly: The Heaven's Viper Seal.

Ghostly white chakra exploded from her, tearing the earth into chunks and driving away Orochimaru.

She gasped, glorying in the rush of energy she could only describe as _pure _as her skin turned white, simultaneously developing a covering of miniscule scales that she knew would be able to withstand a straight blow from a war-axe without chipping. Her hair elongated and paled to a light lavender, tearing apart the hair band, and she vaguely thought of how she would have to get a haircut again, as her senses maxed out.

She felt her eyes itch, signifying the color change to a brilliant gold, the similar feeling of her tongue and teeth telltale signs of the change into a forked tongue and snake-like canines that contained venom that could kill a man in under ten seconds.

All this happened in a span of three seconds, and she grinned maliciously at Orochimaru's horrified face. "Surprised? You should be." She stood up, flexing her arm, and she noted her blood-red fingernails, which had extended almost into claws. She knew they could tear apart a sword. She had done it before of course.

The pale-faced man choked. "Impossible! YOU'RE **her**?"

Of course, he was referring to the entry in the bingo book of the incredibly lethal warrior that had made a reputation for having scales that could withstand any jutsu low A-class or lower, lifting entire buildings and throwing them at you, and being so fast it was said to be comparable to a constant shunshin. Let's not even mention the times she actually used jutsus.

Oh, and she was S-class. HIGH S-class.

The Heaven's Viper laughed. "Yeah." She settled into a stance. "Didn't expect to fight an S-class Nin, didn't you, Orochimaru?"

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Ain't Anko awesome? **

**Anyway, back to the matter at hand: can someone PLEASE make a picture of Anko in Heaven's Viper form? PLEASE?**


	13. Chapter 13

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The Heaven's Viper laughed. "Yeah." She settled into a stance. "Didn't expect to fight an S-class Nin, did you, Orochimaru?" She disappeared, and not an instant later, he felt a titanic force arguably as strong as one of Tsunade's punches hit him on the face, and he crashed **into** one of the trees, his body making a deep indentation into the wood.

Said tree suddenly shook, and a ripping sound occurred, before he realized what had happened: she had torn the trunk from the tree. A laugh, and the gigantic trunk was propelled into a copse of trees, and the entire thing erupted into a gigantic mess of shattered trees and floating leaves.

A 'whoosh' of flame sounded, like something blazing on fire, only with this, it sounded more like a Fire Dragon Bomb erupting, and Orochimaru weakly raised his head from the pile-up, instantly wishing he hadn't.

Anko's arms were on fire, and while he had gotten used to it, the new fire was a ghostly silver in color, and it blazed ten times as bright and as large as her previous one. Even from as far away as he was, he could feel the heat.

She put her palms together, forming a sphere of silver, and proceeded to throw it at the pile of felled trees.

Orochimaru's eyes widened, and he tried in vain to escape.

The sphere hit the mound of wood, and said mound proceeded to erupt into an explosion seen for miles away, the silver light identifiable even in the daylight, with almost no smoke at all due to the sheer burning power of the silver fire.

Orochimaru stumbled out of the mess, more a mass of raw meat than a human, and he hastily spat out another body. Even then, the new him was breathing heavily from exertion. He pulled out the Kusanagi, just in time to block Anko's fiery nails as they raked across the metal, making a horrible screeching sound and sending sparks flying.

Anko stomped on the ground, shattering it, ruining his footing, and before he could react, her other foot slammed onto his stomach, and he flew away from the force. He grabbed onto a branch, veering his body in another direction to avoid a burst of silver fire, and sent back dozens of lightning bolts, trying to buy some time to cast a jutsu that could actually hurt her.

Anko met them head on, condescendingly batting them away like flies, barely feeling the sting of the electricity against her durable scales, returning the attacks tenfold with a mammoth disc of fire that the Sannin barely dodged. Multiple dozens of trees fell to the ground, an entire feet and a half of their trunk burned away by the thick disc as it burned through the forest, and the pale man gulped.

"That all you got Orochimaru?" The lavender-haired woman yelled, landing on a branch and crouching in preparation for a jump.

Her legs propelled herself forward, impossibly fast, and the snake Sannin suddenly found her in front of him, a fraction of an instant before her fist slammed into his face, sending him flying, careening through several branches before crashing to the ground.

He forced himself to move, leaping away, and he saw her kick into the ground he had been on. The ground shook, breaking and shattering for probably dozens of meters away, and he actually felt the shockwaves while he was in the air!

He landed, and he saw her grab at a large chunk of ground, heaving it upward, and he gulped at its size; that of a three-story house, before she threw it at him.

He barely dodged it, and she didn't stop at that, throwing more and more at him with increasing speed. He couldn't help but feel as if he was fighting a Tsunade-impersonator. A REALLY good Tsunade-impersonator. He ran into a copse of thick trees, thinking that they would shield him for a bit, and she shouted in anger. "Get back here you snake!" Ironic, considering the fact that she was the one with scales, fangs, and a forked tongue.

Instincts urged him to duck, and he did. It was all that saved his life.

A gigantic spike of hardened earth pierced the trees like tinfoil, just barely missing him, and he blinked several times at the massive projectile that was obviously created through earth manipulation. "Fuck." He said, running away, cursing as Anko discovered how aerodynamic spears of earth were compared to random chunks, and her accuracy increased marginally.

One of them impaled him through the stomach, driving him into the ground, the weight crushing him, and he scarcely managed to spit out another body.

Overcoming the initial weakness and dizziness of making a new body, he forced himself upward, casting handseals, and he slammed his palms on the ground, summoning three gigantic snakes, sending them after her, before creating two clones that immediately started forming handseals.

Anko grinned, sprinting towards the hissing titans. They lunged towards her, but she easily dodged two of them, never breaking stride as she leapt at the third, her foot snapping upward to collide with the underside of its mouth.

There was a sharp crack, one that resounded throughout the forest, and Orochimaru saw its head snap sickly backwards. The movement didn't end there, as the giant snake actually flew limply through the air, crashing into several trees, bringing them down. It lay there, limp and dead.

The grin on the lavender-haired woman widened. "That all you got?" They hissed, slithering around her, before the ground below her suddenly broke, and the fourth snake that Orochimaru had summoned swallowed her whole.

For a moment, there was silence, before a sick ripping sound occurred, and the upper part of the snake's head was torn away, discarded by a bloody Anko like so much trash. Grinning, she leapt off the bloody jaw, the corpse of the snake causing a cloud of dust to rise when it hit the earth.

The two snakes hissed, and one whipped its tail at her.

Her hand shot up, blocking the summon's tail, and the nails of her other hand burned in silver fire. She straightened and stiffened her fingers, before stabbing them into the scaly flesh. "Burn." She spoke, and the snake yowled in pain, its scales bubbling and cracking from her hand, silver fire visible beneath the scales. The fire traveled throughout its length, until the head erupted, silver fire bursting forth from it, its body falling limply to the ground.

She tore out her hand, and cast a half-seal, appearing on top of the last serpent's head, her hand ripping into its cranium, blowing it up with another use of the strange fire, and she jumped off, condescendingly facing her ex-mentor. "Anymore tricks, you snake?"

One of his clones finished its handseals, and a powerful genjutsu took place.

Genjutsu operated around controlling or changing the movement of chakra in the brain. This one simply scrambled everything to hell, disrupting all that it can as much as it could, and in many ways, it was much better than the usual ones.

Her sight broadened and narrowed, zoomed in or was suddenly unable to see anything three feet close to her. Her hearing changed so fast everything turned into a constant stream of static, while her flesh became either so supersensitive the feeling of cloth or air against her skin was nearly overwhelming, or so numb it made her mind reel. Her limbs jerked spasmodically, and it was only through a great effort of will that she didn't fall to ground a twitching mess then and there.

She took a step forward, and her head reeled, and she stumbled. Suddenly, _something _stabbed into her gut, piercing the tough scales and stabbing into the vulnerable flesh inside. She screamed, her hands clutching the object; a blade. Orochimaru must have stabbed her with the Kusanagi. That was the only weapon he had that could hurt her.

She tried to create fire and blast him away, but her chakra was too unstable to do so. She tried dispelling it with a pulse, but the same problem prevented her from doing so.

Orochimaru laughed. "That was impressive Anko-chan. I actually had to use one of my S-class jutsus." He drove the blade deeper. "But you're still too weak to beat me. And don't even try using chakra or dispelling it. Your chakra is too unsteady to be wielded. In a way, it is a genjutsu more powerful than any the Sharingan has ever made."

She snarled, swinging her arm where she thought his voice was from, but evidently, even with her extraordinary speed, the effects of the genjutsu were too much, and she was way off.

Another laugh. "Naughty naughty Anko-chan. Let's get rid of that problem."

There were two clones, and the other must have cast this jutsu, as multiple lethal edges sliced her limbs, cutting the nerves and muscles vital for movement, and she screamed in pain. Orochimaru chuckled, and she felt him draw out the blade, the feeling strange as part of her wound was completely numb, before she felt the blade rest at her throat, ready to be stabbed in. "Prepare to die my apprentice. You're too much of a threat to leave alive."

A cold voice spoke. "Kill her? Oh no Orochimaru, we won't be having any of that."

An explosion, that much she could make out, and she thought it happened in front of her, though her disrupted senses made it very hard to comprehend anything.

A hand touched the back of her neck, before a pulse of chakra forcibly straightened her own out, and she sighed in relief as everything shifted back to normal. "Are you alright now?" The voice asked, and slowly, she rose up, grinning heavily when she saw the snake sannin's eyes widen at the sight of the gaping stomach wound healing right in front of him.

Flames burst at her arms, and she shifted into a stance. "Yeah." Her limbs had already been healed from the damage, as the white chakra operated around the quantity of tissue lost, not the actual damage, and since the nerves weren't all that big, it had taken seconds to heal them.

Orochimaru glared at the strange man beside her, eyes narrowing at his relaxed stance, as if he wasn't in the middle of a battle between two S-rank warriors. "A friend of yours Anko?"

The blonde man chuckled, the sound mirthless. "Friend of her? Yes, I guess I am. Of you? Not at all." He clicked his teeth, and explosions went off all around them, a circle of peace where he and Anko stood.

Orochimaru leaped and dodged the detonations, simultaneously searching his head for any information on the blonde. He came up empty. He had no data at all about the blonde.

He scowled. _Another _unknown? He had had enough of that. If his luck for the day was any indication, the man was another S-class Nin. He sent another snake at them, before turning around and leaping into the foliage, running away from the two, liberally using shunshin to escape.

The snake hissed, but before it could even lunge, Anko had already ripped out a massive spike of earth and thrown it at it, piercing its scales with nary any resistance and pinning it to a tree, dead. She started to move after him, but Naruto's hand on her shoulder stopped her. "What?"

"How much longer do you have?"

She blinked. "Eh?"

"It's been nearly twenty minutes, and you were using each Kage-level chakra pool in roughly three minutes each. Three times seven is twenty one, so how long do you have? A minute? Two minutes? Three? You won't be able to beat him that way." He explained, and she scowled. "Check, and maybe I'll let you go."

She did, and she found that she still had nearly five minutes. Longer than what he calculated, but admittedly, not near enough to hunt him down. Reluctantly, she powered down, and her features returned to normal, save the long hair.

She studied the bombed area, raising an eyebrow. "When did you find time to set all those bombs up?"

He smiled. "Trade secret." He looked at the mark, furrowing his brow. "If you don't use jutsus, each section can last for seven minutes, so you currently have forty-nine minutes at your disposal if you're sparing with it. But with jutsus, it averages at three. Considering the enemies you fight when you actually DO use the seal, that's not enough by far. I'll add three more when I get the time."

She blinked. TEN Kage-level chakra pools for the container seal? Now that was a lot. "Th-thanks."

He nodded, before looking in the direction Orochimaru had gone in. "I doubt the ANBU squads will actually catch him. The man's ridiculously good at hiding. Nonetheless, we've foiled his plan of giving the Uchiha the curse mark, so that's a win for us."

"Speaking of the bastard, what's the first reason he was here in the first place?"

The blonde smiled. "Oh, he's here to prepare an invasion on Konoha in the Chuunin Exam Finals. He's killed the Kazekage and used that face-jutsu of his to pretend he's him and ally Sand with Sound. He's the Otokage if you haven't figured it out yet."

There was silence for several seconds.

The purple-haired woman stared at him. "I'm not even going to bother asking how you know all that."

The smile widened. "Good for you. Now, pretend you know none of that. We can't have the bastards knowing about it, can we?"

Anko crossed her arms. "So, besides the snake, are there any other anomalies I should be worrying about?"

Naruto's eyes twinkled. "None. They are minor at best, and I shall deal with them shortly."

"You're going to disappear the moment I take my eyes off you aren't you?"

"Yup." He said this shamelessly, and Anko threw her arms up in surrender and leapt away to fulfill her duties as proctor.

Indeed, if anyone had looked at Naruto the moment she moved, they would have found nothing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Ame (Rain) genin fired a sphere of water at the pale girl.

Haku casually raised an arm, and the sphere slowed, stopping completely an inch from her hand. She threw it back at the genin, but instead of a sphere, it turned into rain, simple, harmless rain, drenching the genin who frowned at the attack, wondering how she thought she could use it against him, or maybe she was just mocking him?

The temperature dropped, and his eyes widened in realization. But it was too late, and in a second, he was covered from the neck down in a thin layer of ice. Haku made a gesture, and the ice spiked, piercing multiple organs, and his head went limp.

Not ten meters away, Ranmaru's opponent dropped his sword, his arm twitching from the electricity, and he screamed as the Lightning Fangs stabbed into his throat, his voice being cut off abruptly. Ranmaru swung the blades in opposite directions, and the severed head fell to the ground, the stump spouting blood, much to the delight of the swordsman-in-training.

Naaki however, had finished the earliest between the three, his opponent lying limply on the ground, his head crushed by the warped rebreather, the _metal _rebreather. "What scroll do they have?" He asked.

Haku drew it out of her opponent. "Heaven Scroll."

The gray-skinned boy sighed in relief. "Finally. This is the fourth team we've had to take down to find one. Now let's go. I don't like this place. Not enough metal in it."

The ice-user put the scroll in her pack, and with that done, the three started walking away, having stopped at the edge of the perimeter of the tower, awaiting the team that had both scrolls, having gotten bored with finding other teams in the forest.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dosu, the boy who looked uncannily like a mummy due to the excess of bandages he wore, frowned as he studied the genin they had been ordered to kill: Uchiha Sasuke.

Zaku, the spiky-haired boy with the mechanical implants put into his arms that projected powerful blasts of sound, chuckled at said boy's team as they set up camp. "That's him? Doesn't look so tough."

The bandaged boy shook his head. "Be careful. They say he graduated at the top of his class, so he's got to have some tricks up his sleeves."

\The black-haired girl sniffed disdainfully at the pink-haired kunoichi in the team. "I doubt that bitch does though. You can smell the shampoo from this far away. She must be one of those god-awful fangirls."

Dosu readied the contraption on his right arm. "All the easier for us. Zaku. Blast them."

The boy grinned, pointing his palms at Kiba. Chakra gathered, and shot out of the funnels in his arm as sound, heading for the team.

Kiba twitched, feeling his gut clench, feeling as if it was a bad place to be standing where he was. He leaped away, avoiding the soundwave that shredded his tent, pulling out a pill for Akamaru to swallow when he saw the damage.

Likewise, Sasuke drew a kunai, sharingan forming, looking for the enemy. "Up there!" He informed his team, pointing at the sound team.

Kiba gave Akamaru the pill, popping a similar one into his mouth, and as the dog hopped onto his back, a handseal turned the dog into a copy of the Inuzuka, with claws and fangs lengthened and muscles bulging considerably. "Gatsuuga (Drilling Fang)!" He snarled, and the two leaped into the air, turning into twin cyclones of fang and claw.

The three Oto (Sound) ninja jumped away, and the feral duo targeted Zaku, whose eyes widened mid-jump when he saw the two heading for him. The two cyclones slammed into the sound genin, ripping apart cloth and tearing flesh, and he crashed to the ground groaning. Kiba and Akamaru landed on branches, and they dove down immediately to finish the job.

It was not to be so as Zaku pointed his palms at them, and just before the two could reach him, the explosive shockwave knocked them away into the trees, dazing them.

Dosu activated his contraption, and before Sasuke could breathe out his fireball, the sound waves slammed into his eardrum, and he screamed, falling to the ground, clutching his bleeding ear, trying in vain to stand up; a near-impossible effort due to the sudden imbalance he was experiencing.

Sakura took a step toward her crush, and suddenly, a hand grabbed her long hair, expertly circling her throat at it and pulling. Her gasp was cut off into a choke as she futilely grasped at her neck, trying to loosen the terrible pressure.

Kin sneered at her. "Fangirls. Your kind shouldn't be in the exam in the first place."

A recovered Kiba growled at them. "Hey! Leave her alone!" He and Akamaru repeated their move, but stream of sound from Dosu ruined their balance so much they crashed to the ground instead, Kiba grinding his teeth in frustration and Akamaru whimpering pathetically, back in his dog form.

The bandaged boy snorted at Zaku's wounds. "He got you good."

"Shut up. Just kill the Uchiha and get it over with." The sound Nin muttered.

Sakura paled, but a quick tug had her focusing on the long hair choking her neck. Kin chuckled at her.

The Uchiha shivered when he heard this, and he tried to stand up. Dosu shot him down with another sound wave, drawing a kunai and placing it to his neck. "Bye bye Uchiha."

"Damn. I was hoping the fangirl would be dead by now." A sigh. "Dammit, when is the vermin going to DIE?"

The voice could be most easily described as exasperated, and the Konoha Nin tensed at it.

"Who's there?" Dosu asked, readying the contraption on his arm.

A hand suddenly gripped it. There was a pause, as the sound ninja tried to comprehend the black-clothed man standing in their midst, and in that moment, the grip tightened.

The metal buckled and broke like badly baked clay, and Dosu screamed as his arm shattered under the pressure, bones snapping like twigs. The hand holding him threw him nonchalantly to the side, and he slammed into a tree, dazed.

Zaku fired at him, the shockwave tearing up the earth, and everyone stared when they saw the blonde stand his ground. The shockwave neared him, and it seemed to suddenly split in two, as if there was a triangular wall in front of him that cut the wave into two streams that raged harmlessly past his sides.

The black-clothed man smiled, and without warning, he was behind Zaku. Before the Oto genin could turn however, a kunai plunged through his neck, blood spurting out like a fountain, and he fell limply to the ground, twitching spasmodically as his body breathed its last.

Kin threw the fangirl away, readying a kunai for whatever good it would do her, sweating nervously as the blonde walked towards her, his movements strangely blasé, as if all this was an everyday occurrence for him.

Then again, it probably was.

A stiff palm slapped the kunai away, and before she could react, a hand encircled her neck. For a second, it was just there, a presence that barely pressed against her skin, then, it clenched tightly, and she tried in vain to speak, to gasp, to make a sound form out of her mouth.

A pulse of chakra ran through his veins, strengthening his arm, and he squeezed.

There was a crack, and she ceased struggling, her eyes dull and lifeless, her body limp. Naruto let go of her, and her body landed lifelessly on the forest floor.

There was silence, before the blonde turned, calmly facing Dosu, the Oto Nin having leapt into the air not a moment past, a kunai in his grip.

There was a flash, along with a several notes of sound ninjas would normally associate with a sword cutting through flesh, before Dosu literally fell apart piece by bloody piece before their very eyes, his blood spilling onto the ground.

The blonde whistled innocently. It didn't fool anyone though.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, painstakingly getting to his feet, his face only slightly pale from the slaughter. He had come to expect it of the blonde. "Naruto..."

He tilted his head to the side. "Yes?"

"Why?"

A cheeky grin formed on Naruto's face. "Why what?"

The Uchiha gestured to the corpses. "This! And back then!"

The grin shifted to a subdued smile. "This, is because I have to give you the chance to get that stick out of your ass. Back then?" His eyes narrowed, dead serious. "There is more to the Uchiha Massacre than what you think boy. Just remember; all that seems evil is not, vice versa with good, and for a bit of common sense; doesn't _anything _about a perfectly normal, abnormally talented ninja like Itachi snapping and killing his entire family sound fishy to you?"

He took a step backwards, and in an instant, he was gone.

Sasuke frowned at his last words. Now that you think of it, how the hell DID Itachi snap? He had seemed perfectly normal...well, for an ANBU captain at least, the day before...

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere up in the trees, in the direction of his step, Naruto scowled at the pink-haired fangirl, his mind devising cruel ways of death for the annoying bitch.

'_Oh, to flay the skin from her flesh with a steel and leather whip, and to oh so slowly tear her very flesh from her bones, before ripping off her limbs and beating her to death with them...with gloves and an apron of course. No sense getting her filth on me.' _He thought rather manically, his mental form all but frothing at the mouth.

One would think that this was an overly excessive reaction to seeing a fangirl, but having seen the kind of bitch the girl almost always was, along with a rather ingrained reaction from..._somewhere,_ this was just the icing on the cake. You should see the one that included slug monsters, a large bag of decaying matter, and a REALLY big earthworm.

Growling, he turned his attention elsewhere, closing his eyes and giving the clones he had made a vague notion of an order; the best one could do with shadow clones.

They remembered his thoughts prior to their creation however, and immediately made another clone before dispelling themselves, transferring their acquired memories to him.

Naruto nodded. Team Kurenai had gotten their scroll from a team that had the unfortunate luck to be attacked by extremely large leeches. Poor bastards.

Team Asuma had managed to steal one from another while the mist team had already passed. So had Kabuto's team.

Meanwhile, Gaara had taken down an Ame team with a leader who used that needle rain thing.

The blonde frowned. That reminded him. _'Prepare yourself Aoi, I'm coming for you when all this is over.' _He muttered mentally, remembering the other ninja who could use the needle rain jutsu.

Somewhere in Ame, a certain Raijin-wielding ninja shuddered.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You're the only team Yagura sent?" Naruto asked Haku conversationally.

"He was still considering who to send when you recommended us." She answered, looking at the battle between that female Hyuuga and the Inuzuka.

It was finished relatively quickly, though not without a degree of damage. Kiba had made the mistake of going close range against a Hyuuga. One of the most timid Hyuuga she had ever met yes, but still a Hyuuga, and he was paying the price for it. He was currently being led out on a stretcher, both his arms and his left leg disabled. Same with his dog, only it was the right leg.

Naruto absorbed this information for several moments, before shrugging. "I guess it was a wise gamble. With fewer teams, there's a lesser chance of one of you getting into the finals. But if the fact that only one team participated in the first place and you STILL reached the finals got out, it would be good publicity." He put a hand to his chin, noting the fight between Temari and Shino. It took a bit of concentration, but she was able to make the amount of wind blades in each attack dense enough that the insects couldn't just dodge it. Shino surrendered.

"If all three of you got to the finals however..." He trailed off, looking at the Mist Nin.

Naaki grunted his affirmation. Ranmaru grinned, unsheathing one of the Lightning Fangs and absently tracing the steel, while Haku nodded determinedly.

Naruto grinned. "Good."

His head snapped to the screen as they stopped at the names: Gaara vs. Sakura Haruno.

Slowly, his lips spread into a wide toothy grin, and a blur heralded his teleportation to the side of the Suna Jinchuuriki.

For a moment, there was tense silence, as Kankuro and Temari processed the fact that someone had teleported within Gaara's protective perimeter _without _the sand reacting. He either meant no harm, or was so powerful it made no damn difference. Considering how Gaara reacted in their previous meeting, it was probably the latter.

Naruto leaned in, and Gaara frowned at the manic gleam in his eyes. "Gaara, I have a favor to ask of you." He whispered. "Worry not. It's something you'll probably like."

The frown deepened. What did the predator want of him? "What?" Gaara asked, in the same volume as the blonde.

The smile widened. "PLEASE make the pinky suffer. Permanent but non-fatal debilitating injuries most preferable."

Silence, before; "Sure."

For some reason, before he teleported once more, it seemed as if he was cackling like a maniac.

Naaki raised an eyebrow at him. "You...are obsessed."

"It's called annihilation of vermin, boy." Naruto said acidly as he settled himself, and the gray-skinned boy shrugged.

The battle, if it could be called that, was utterly and completely one-sided. Naruto had cast a very subtle genjutsu, one that bolstered Sakura's confidence just enough to make her not forfeit the match before it even started. When it did, however, it was an absolute slaughter, with Gaara swarming her with sand and lifting her into the air just like all the other times.

She was spread-eagled in the air, her frightened, snotty, teary-eyed face the only thing visible, her mouth covered in case she forfeited too early. Methodically, the Jinchuuriki of Shukaku crushed her arms and legs, doing it gradually instead of the usual sudden crushing force he employed.

Her screams were muffled by the sand, but everyone could hear it, and when he finished with her last limb, he proceeded to fill her mouth with sand, scraping it raw and turning the inside of her cheeks into bloody meat, while he ruthlessly tore out her eyes. THAT was when he finally allowed her to scream.

Everyone froze, however, when they heard someone clap.

It was Naruto, who, having abandoned the 'I'm not interesting, ignore me' genjutsu, had proceeded to clap calmly but loudly, the action morbidly refined, as if he was applauding a masterful performance and playwright instead of an act of cruelty and a madman.

The Sandaime sighed, putting his face in his hands. _'I knew he hated fangirls, but not this much.' _He suddenly realized something, and he groaned miserably. _'Oh god. What about the Yamanaka?' _

Naaki faced off against Kankuro, and the battle was rather uninteresting, as Naaki didn't even move, only frowned in concentration, moving the metal inside Karasu and disabling the puppet, much to the dismay of Kankuro when he found that his beloved puppet was now a near-worthless dead weight.

Ranmaru fought one of Kabuto's teammates; a man with an elastic body. Needless to say, being stretchy didn't save you from being cut into itty bitty little pieces by the Lightning Fangs.

Neji battled Choji, and it ended with him using the Kaiten on the chubby boy, the Akamichi's rolling ball attack being trounced by the Hyuuga Ultimate Defense.

Yakumo fought Shikamaru, and the Nara found himself strapped to a wooden torture bed, with the brown-haired female holding a kunai at his throat.

Sasuke dealt with a one-trick pony who could absorb chakra through his hands. That didn't do shit when you have fireballs and kunai getting thrown at you from five feet away.

Ino was pitted against Lee, and was promptly knocked out by a punch to the head. It was noted that Naruto muttered a complaint on how she should have fought Ranmaru.

Finally, Haku fought Tenten, and the Leaf shinobi found herself inadequate against the Mist Nin, having somehow hidden in the shadows at the corner and thrown senbon at Tenten's neck when the weapons mistress landed from her attack, immediately lapsing into a pseudo-death state. Haku's clone had at least been hit, however.

After that, every winner had drawn a card, and the match-ups were as follows:

Hinata Hyuuga vs. Neji Hyuuga

Temari vs. Rock Lee

Ranmaru vs. Sasuke Uchiha

Yakumo Kurama vs. Haku

Gaara vs. Naaki Tetsu

Then, they were given a month to prepare for the finals, and the third part of the Chuunin Exams was declared over.

Naaki raised an eyebrow, looking at the Sand Genin. "Him huh?"

"Scared?" Naruto asked good-naturedly.

The iron-eyed genin glared at him. "Ultimate Defense? I can pierce that easy Maelstrom-sama. He is a fool to stand around and let his sand do all the work. It will be his undoing."

The cane-wielding businessman shrugged, glancing at the others. Haku and Yakumo were scowling at each other, and one could just imagine sparks flying between them. _'Oh boy. We've got a catfight in our hands. Here's hoping there's some cloth-ripping.'_

Neji seemed...pleased. Must be eager to prove his mettle and superiority over the Main Branch. Hinata however, was visibly shaking, and it seemed forfeiting wasn't far in the realm of possibilities. He Looked at her, and she tensed, turning to him. He gave her an encouraging smile, and when she looked away, most of the tension was gone from her.

Naruto shifted to Ranmaru. "Think you can take the Uchiha?"

A grin, one that fully showed his newly-filed shark-like teeth. "He'll be an annoying one, sure. But the advantage he has with those eyes isn't something a little bit of mist can't take out. Doujutsu users are NEVER good at blind-fighting."

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki smiled. "A fact that has served many ninja well over the centuries." He patted him on the back good-naturedly. "Kick his ass boy. Now, if no one minds, I've got some business to take care off." A whisper of the wind, and he was gone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hiruzen continued puffing on his pipe when Naruto appeared. "Well, what news do you mean to tell me?"

The blonde sat down, bringing out several scrolls from out of nowhere. "Most of them concern Orochimaru, and a certain invasion on Konoha he seeks to commence. Oh, and I suggest you put more protections on the Uchiha, especially in these times and places..."

The Sandaime was all ears.


	14. Chapter 14

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Dammit woman, do you NEED to see my house?" Naruto growled out, scowling heavily. "I thought blood was all you needed of me?" Having finished with the Chuunin Exams for now, he had decided to go and relax. In his house. Which Marianne apparently wanted to see.

Marianne smiled, and he valiantly tried to ignore how sexy she looked. "Need? Not at all. Want? Very, VERY much. It would be a pleasure to view the house of the man I am allied to. Besides, you have seen mine have you not? It is just simple manners to return the favor."

The blonde gritted his teeth. It wasn't that he didn't think it was to her standards. Oh no, it was more on that he didn't want her to see some of the things there.

'_Bloody maids and their bloody ideas. I NEVER should have agreed on that uniform. URGH! Stupid females and their fascination with looking pretty!' _Actually, it was more..._sexy. _But he didn't want to think about that.

Scowling, he grabbed her hand, forming a half-seal with the other. The world blurred, before settling into the inside of a luxurious house.

The floor and walls were smooth white marble, carved with mysterious flowing designs. There was a grand staircase in front of him made out of the same materials as the floor and walls, and behind him was a set of grand wooden double-doors. The entrance, as suggested by the windows showing a long expanse of beautiful flowery pasture ending in ten feet high black obsidian walls.

Furniture was sparse. The walls were completely bare of paintings or drapings, with but a few items then and there, such as a small table containing trinkets or such. However, despite this, the room contained an atmosphere of simple elegant beauty, the beautiful carvings being a big part of this.

"A guest, sir?" An incredibly deep baritone; more a monotone rumble than anything else, asked.

A smile tugged at Naruto's lips, and he turned to face his butler, Yareno.

Yareno was a tall male, six and a half feet tall, with skin neither dark nor light, a plain face, dark eyes and short-cropped black hair. He was muscular, but not exceedingly so, his build more like that of a runner's or gymnast's. Dressed in a stereotypical butler's tuxedo with his hands habitually clasped primly behind his back, he had a mouth that was set permanently in a neutral line, and he seemed wholly incapable of speaking in something other than a monotone.

The cane-wielding man glanced at Marianne. "Guest? Yes. Guest would be a very fine description. Give Queen Marianne Decorum the best accommodations we have. Only the best for the best after all."

Yareno raised an eyebrow, looking at the vampire queen. "A queen?" The way he said it made it seem as if royalty was an everyday matter to him. "Well this is a surprise." His expression said otherwise. Or maybe he didn't care? Probably both.

Marianne was suitably impressed. The man was completely unaffected by her glamour, nor by her title. This was a man who judged people by how they act and what they do, not by what other people considered them to be. Naruto indeed surrounded herself by capable men and women. But how capable exactly?

"You forgot to mention I'm a vampire." She added.

There was silence, before Yareno looked at Naruto. "Master, is this a joke?"

"Err...no." The blonde answered.

More silence, before Yareno faced Marianne. "Forgive me for my inadequacy mistress, but I know not what a vampire needs. Do you dislike the sunlight and need the windows covered? Can you eat actual food or do you only drink blood?"

The vampire queen looked at Naruto. "Tell me, has he ever looked surprised to you?"

"Not even when a four-year-old hired him." The blonde answered, hinting at who the 'four-year-old' was.

She turned back to the butler. "I do not dislike sunlight. Merely the drowsiness it causes me. I prefer to have it when relaxing though, but have the windows ready to be covered in case of emergencies. Yes, I can eat normal food, but I cannot eat as much, nor get as much nutrients from it as your kind. Blood would be excellent, but not necessarily needed." She glanced at Naruto. "I've already had my...quota, for today."

Yareno raised an eyebrow, before bowing. "Very well mistress. Yuna!"

A tan-skinned brown-haired brown-eyed beauty appeared, dressed in a form-fitting French Maid outfit with a shorter-than-normal skirt and a dangerously plunging neckline. She looked at Naruto, and bowed, the low-cut collar dangerously close to spilling her breasts. _"Master. Mistress." _The way she said them made them sound more like a sexual innuendo than anything, and Naruto put his head in his hands, mortified.

Yareno gave her clipped instructions, and with another scandalously sensual bow, she disappeared.

The brown-haired vampire stared at Naruto. "Are ALL of your female servants like that?"

The blonde twitched. "This is what happens when you treat depressed, degraded females like human beings. They tend to get..._affectionate_, with you." He groaned. "My god, puberty is going to be HELL."

Marianne looked at Yareno. "Affectionate?"

The butler coughed. "Not at the scale you are thinking. It was limited to fondling, hugging, kisses to the cheek, and an abnormal amount of partial nudity. Oh, and they somehow convinced him during his ninth birthday to buy these outrageous outfits as their actual uniforms. If you think the maid outfit is bad, you should see the nurse outfit. On a different note, as a male and not as his servant, I would like to say 'lucky bastard'." He said all this in a monotone too.

Naruto seriously considered turning into a crab and hiding under a rock. This was humiliating. "Marianne? Didn't you say you wanted to see my house? Yareno, give her a tour or something. I'm going away before the rest of my dignity is torn into pieces." He formed a half-seal, and he was gone.

The vampire queen raised an eyebrow. "Four years old? How?"

A cough. "He was...convincing."

"How did they talk him into making that...slutwear, their uniform?"

"I believe it involved him being inebriated and one of the cooks who was originally a lawyer droning on about the advantages of such a thing. He just signed the paper to make him stop. He regretted it the next day." His lips didn't so much as twitch upwards as he said this.

Marianne blinked. Well, that was...informative.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An instant of movement, and he was in her room, the seals he had had carved enabling him to summon himself in any of the rooms in his house.

Silently, he walked forward, to the large four-poster bed with filmy white drapes. Two girls in French Maid outfits tended to the person on the bed. His eye twitched at the sight of the women. HOW they ever made him; their employer for God's sake!, make that their uniform was beyond him.

They noticed him, and they bowed, the action giving him a good view of their breasts (honestly, sometimes he wondered if they trainedbending like that _just_ to do that to him), sultry smiles on their faces at his unease. The twitch deepened, before he looked at the occupant. "How is she?" He asked, his voice a grim whisper.

Their faces turned dismal. "Worse off than before."

Naruto sighed. "Leave. I wish to be alone with her." Another bow, and they left quietly.

"You needn't do this." A voice rasped, weak and hoarse, but with an undertone of the serenity and vivacity it once had.

He took a chair and placed it next to the bed, sitting down and clasping one of her hands in his. "You should know by now that I take care of me and mine. I won't give up on you so easily."

A sigh, one so quiet it was barely hearable. "My lord, you are too kind." Her red eyes watered, and he soothingly pulled back a strand of crimson hair behind her ear.

For an hour, he just sat there, silently offering his support and helping her with whatever he could whenever bouts of bloody coughing ensued, but eventually, he had to leave, and the maids returned to tend to her as he walked out.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway, his knuckles white as they gripped the cane. "Damn it all. Don't get close. I knew that the moment I discovered her. There's nothing I or any allies I can muster at the time can do to help her. She'll die no matter what I do, and it'll be to my advantage. But I just HAD to be emotional didn't I?"

He groaned, leaning on the wall as he remembered the time his staff had had a Masquerade Party and everyone dressed up as something else.

One of the female gardeners as a tree nymph (WAY too accurate a costume for her own good), one of the chefs as a scaly...something. Heck, even Yareno appeared as the Grim Reaper (now that was scary. They actually had people screaming before they figured out who it was. He looked SO damn real...).

Kai, the pale, red-eyed redhead had dressed up as a fox lady. A nine-tailed one.

It had been a complete and utter surprise; an unlucky coincidence, and it made him remember what he needed of her, or, more specifically; her corpse.

He grinded his teeth together, reminding himself that she would die before he could have access to the powers that could heal her, and if she died, it would be an imbalance in the world if he made the Goddess of Life restore her, for it wasn't a sickness, but a simple frailty of her body. Was it fate favoring him for once, making sure that logic would go in his favor?

"Perhaps." He whispered. "Perhaps."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rokusho Aoi flinched, slowly looking in the direction of the sound.

Slowly, mist spread from under the bushes, gathering on the ground, before rising. An unnatural occurrence.

The missing Nin took out the sword he had stolen: Raijin no Ken, activating it with a dull buzz, and the gleaming yellow sword appeared. "Who's there?"

There was a flash, and a lightning bolt shot out from the foliage, heading for him. He swatted it away with the Raijin, but by then, his adversary had lunged at him. It was a purple-haired boy wielding twin sword with spikes on it.

He blocked, expecting the current from Raijin to travel through the blades and shock the boy, but the yellow electricity remained on the steel, sparking across the spiked blades but never going farther. The boy grinned, showing filed shark-like teeth, and Aoi paled when he realized what he was up against.

Mist Hitai-ate, filed teeth? Ohmygod, this was either an apprentice Swordsman (with a capital S), or an actual Swordsman. He looked at the blades, and his face turned a shade of white that would make ivory green with envy.

The Lightning Fangs? FUCK! He was facing one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist!

Ranmaru's grin widened at the look of horrified recognition on his face. "You get it now don't you? You don't stand a chance." The wild lightning on his blades ceased their movement, turning into controlled currents that ran up and down across the steel, proudly showing his lightning affinity. "Give up, and I might let you live."

_Might_

Aoi jumped away. "No way. You were sent to kill me. I'm not gonna be tricked that easily!" He threw his umbrella into the air, forming a half-seal. "The Raijin isn't my only weapon!" He shouted as a multitude of needles shot out from the umbrella in the direction of the Swordsman-to-be.

Just as the needles were about to hit him, they changed direction, forming a floating armada above the palm of a gray-skinned male.

Naaki pointed his finger at him. "Let's see how you fare against your own attack." The needles rushed at him, and Aoi was too surprised to dodged, being showered by a rain of needles, falling to the ground a twitching heap.

Haku frowned, taking out a Senbon of her own. "You missed it." She said, throwing the weapon, and it plunged into a spot on his neck. Immediately, he stilled.

Zabuza rolled his eyes from a tree branch. "You're getting fond of that simulated death state spot WAY too much."

Haku smiled innocently. It didn't fool anyone though, and with a single swing of Kubikiri Houcho, Aoi was beheaded, the head being sealed inside a scroll for later. The body was burned, and the Mist Nin ran back to Mizugakure to deliver the Raijin and the head back.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Marianne raised an eyebrow as Naruto suddenly smiled. "Something good happened?"

The smile widened. "A certain person I didn't like got killed, and Mist got a nice weapon in the bargain. Why shouldn't I be happy?" He wondered about the White Fang. Maybe he should steal the shards and reforge it? Oh, that'll be awesome...

The vampire queen shrugged. Naruto could somehow gain random pieces of knowledge, and she had gotten used to it overtime. After all, she HAD been around a prophet before. Twice actually, and them giving random speeches was even worse. "Yareno isn't just a butler isn't he? The man's dangerous, I can feel it."

Naruto nodded, glancing at his surroundings, noting the clear swath of land where nothing grew at all. A sense of foreboding assaulted his senses, and he scowled at what he sensed. Nonetheless, he answered her question. "He was an S-class Nin from Swamp Country. He was betrayed by the Kage for fear of him usurping the position. Yareno killed his assassins, but didn't bother trying to kill the Kage, since the man had barricaded himself in with a dozen of his most-trusted shinobi. I blackmailed the Daimyo to make the Kage ignore him as a missing Nin, and then I hired him." Then; "We're here."

Safiria nodded, looking upon the swath of land where the Azure Vampires lay buried.

Naruto bent down, one knee on the ground as he touched the earth, frowning. "It's a bit smaller than your land. Why's that?"

"The Azure Vampires were the least numerous of us all." She thrust her chin up proudly. "However, they had the least casualties among their elders in the war, and not for lack of participation. They are **powerful **Naruto, despite their frailty. Even from here you can sense that. They were also the most pitiless. If you multiplied every spiritual horror in my Kingdom by seven, you would still have more wraiths and blights down there. It will be hard getting past those, and their actual defenses are going to be monstrous."

He nodded. "Well, I have you by my side. An Originator should be enough to get through them all." He held out his hand, and she took it. "Shall we?"

Marianne nodded. "Yes."

There was a blur as they melded their abilities together, passing through the defenses via the Realm of Shadow (even then, they had to concentrate when faced against the defenses THERE), and appearing in the middle of a large cavern, where the entirety of the city lay.

The moment they appeared, snarls and unearthly howls sounded, and Naruto frowned, the cane disappearing from his grasp. He needed light.

"Prepare yourself Naruto. They come." Marianne's voice called out.

"Close your eyes." He muttered, drawing out the most versatile of his weapons.

She blinked. "What?"

Holy Light forth from him, and the malevolent spirits stopped in their tracks, howling in surprise and pain, feebly trying to shield themselves from the burning radiance. Then and there, several spirits actually disintegrated into nothingness just from the glow.

Naruto grinned as he held the reforged Silver Fangs, noting the slight increase in the length of the blade and minute changes in the style of the steel. He swung the shining knives experimentally, pleased at the sight of the edge, which seemed, strangely enough, more..._silver, _now. _'Thanks...old man.'_ The blades could pierce Devilkin flesh now.

Who knew the smith could recreate the light of Heaven itself? Who knew what other secrets he had acquired over his long life? A hell lot obviously. It was unfortunate that he had chosen not to have a successor to continue his trade. Much knowledge would be lost with his death. But...

_You seek peace do you not? Then don't fret. Peace cannot be achieved when men such as me; a creator of weapons of war, exists. It is for the best._

'_This is for you.' _Naruto thought as he slashed with the blades, letting them extend from their chains, and the two attacks cut down every spiritual malignity they hit.

Marianne slashed down the ones on her side with a casual swipe, a crescent of darkness cutting them down. "The light of heaven itself? How?"

He grinned. "An old man who's REALLY good at making weapons."

She raised an eyebrow, before the shadows moved, coalescing into a gigantic buzzsaw of darkness she held adroitly in one hand. She threw it, and a large chunk of the malign entities were cut down, screaming their end.

_Something _appeared, and Naruto froze, eyes widening as he saw a ghostly form.

It was a human, a caveman to be exact. Wide forehead, thick eyebrows that shadowed it eyes, long and thick greasy hair. It was hunched over, four and a half feet tall, but very heavily muscled.

That wasn't all however. Its face was bruised and bloody, and its right eye was leaking blood, the eye dangling by a thread from the socket. Its lips seemed to have been **torn **from its face, and its limbs were broken and bent in unnatural ways. In several places, bones were sticking out.

Its chest was charred black, and a wooden stake could be seen sticking out of its stomach. At its crotch, Naruto could see that the flesh there had been ripped off. The caveman had been gelded, its penis torn from its body.

He knew what it was. The first EVER human torture victim. His eyes narrowed into slits, and the Silver Fangs reacted by glowing brighter. "Damn." He muttered, aware of the primordial forces it had at its command, its very presence warping the space and time of its vicinity.

Marianne moved; a flash of glinting emeralds and brown curls, _something _held in her hand as her feet ate up the distance at an astonishing rate.

The caveman attacked; a wave of spectral energy unmatched by any he had ever felt before, and he, even with his experience with powerful spiritual terrors, felt his body rebel against him, frozen and yet frantically trembling at the same time.

Marianne ignored it all, the..._thing _in her hand cutting apart the wave as she passed, and the caveman blurred, turning everything within a ten meter radius into a void of destruction. Negative energy and forces primordial warred inside the sphere it had created, certain to harm even the gods themselves.

Marianne continued heedlessly.

His sixth sense screamed at him, the same one the entity had told him to trust in, and Naruto followed, activating his Sight. Know now that to See was not like to Look. To Look could only be done at a sentient being, to make him/her notice you, to convey one's thoughts and feelings to another, or to form an understanding of each other.

(Yes, THAT is what Naruto used on Marianne and Hinata, and in case you haven't figured it out yet, that is what is used when some villain from a high perch looks at the hero down below, and the hero gets a bad gut feeling)

To See was to perceive the world without its secrets. One's Sight was always a different level from others. Some could only see past possible disguises into what species you really are. Others could see nodes of power, strong memories stamped into things (such as a horrible massacre in a haunted house), and sometimes, see into your very SOUL. And more besides.

But there was a reason why people didn't have permanent Sight. To See was taxing on the mind, and sometimes the soul. All true Oracles were people with a strong Sight. Many of them had turned mad within months.

Naruto knew his was better than most, if not THE best (he suspected the entity had a hand in this, though he couldn't See time; which was a good thing, since the ability to See the sands of time tended to drive even the most iron-willed men mad). All secrets and information were exposed to him. Literally. So long as it was within his range of observation. The lives of people were revealed to him. So was the history and secret of objects and locations.

Such a sudden influx of knowledge and exposure to that which humans were not supposed to See was taxing however, and he almost broke his mind the first time he used it.

Nevertheless, he could control it enough that he could focus on one thing and one thing only, which this time was what which Marianne held.

Power. Power was what he saw. Power enough to kill a god. To kill a thousand gods. His Sight threw away the curtain his own mind had placed; for what he Saw was not meant to be Seen by his human eyes. But he knew that he was MORE than human; he was Jinchuuriki, the power of human sacrifice, and was touched by an entity unmatched by any other, though his mind might not have realized that yet.

He saw it, and he wondered, just how powerful the Originators were really, if Marianne, considered the weakest, was so mighty?

Marianne sliced open the sphere, diving in, holding the thing she wielded with both hands, and cutting.

A human scream, but one touched with the world primal. It reverberated across the massive cavern, shaking dust loose, driving away weaker specters, and drifted away a memory.

Naruto tentatively approached the queen, his knives giving off a soft warm glow. "How?"

She turned towards him. "What?"

He looked at what she wielded, at the weapon she held. It was a scythe, but not just any ordinary scythe. Its shaft was seven feet long at the least, a gnarled black rod of writhing darkness lined with pulsing veins of red blood, and its blade; a four-feet-long curved edge of white bone, gleamed with the presence of Death. Lethalis, a scythe twin to that of the Grim Reaper's itself; Mortis. A weapon matched only by four others; one of them shattered into oblivion and another lying unused in the grave of its wielder, forevermore.

He pointed at the scythe. "A brother blade to that which the Reaper himself wields. Gifted, no doubt, by the great one in the dawn of your creation. How can you NOT be the most powerful of the Originators?"

She glanced at her weapon, before her face swung back to him, eyes wide. "You can See it? But...you're not brain-dead!"

The blonde shook his head "I have seen many, many wonders in my life, and I am more than just human. Yet, you have not answered my question. How can you not be the best when you wield a weapon that channels the power of Death itself?"

Marianne frowned, fingering the pulsing handle. "There is more to power than weapons Naruto. You yourself should know that." She shifted back to face the castle of the Azure King. "True, I was gifted with probably the most powerful weapon among the Originators, but their weapons could measure up with mine, and in skill in battle?"

Her green eyes pulsed with emerald energy. "I have forgotten more than a hundred human grandmasters will ever learn in their lifetime, and yet, the Scarlet Queen held a deadly, graceful edge I did not have; a bloody temptress even in battle. The Golden King was a savage man born for nothing but war. He was a great warrior, I'll give him that, if nothing else. And the Azure King?" She bit her lip. "Once, we three fought him. We lost. He is the greatest of us all, despite what the legends might say. The only reason he was never brought to the spotlight is because your kind was always so enamored with the kind Emerald Queen, the beautiful Scarlet Queen, and the warmongering Golden King. That, and he didn't want attention."

The scythe disappeared. "Come. We have the deadliest vampire to ever walk the earth to awaken, and trust me, his defenses will probably make mine look like an apprentice mage's ward in comparison."

Naruto nodded gravely, his blades pulsing with light as the Shades opened the gate, absorbing, deflecting, or just plain shrugging off the defenses that pulsed and writhed with more power than a hundred Kages.

They entered.

In the courtyard, an army of unblemished, shining suits of armor awaited them.

Slowly, a blue glow appeared in the slits of their eye-holes, and as one, they drew their weapons.

Naruto groaned. "I'm starting to hate it already."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Slice, sidestep, riposte, Holy Flash, dive in while disoriented, and STAB.

The hulking, gorilla-like demon screeched, falling on its back as Naruto twisted the shining blades lodged in its chest. A quick burst of Holy light had it choking on its last breath, before going limp.

Immediately, the blonde lifted the corpse, blocking the large explosive crossbow bolt from the mammoth of a launcher the walking suit of armor was wielding. He kicked the corpse at it, simultaneously replacing the Silver Fangs with the cane blade, cutting the enchanted armor into four pieces with the unnaturally-sharp blade.

He turned, the Silver Fangs reappearing and bringing back light, just in time for him to see the Bloodhound; something that looked like a huge Labrador Retriever on steroids made entirely out of blood, charging at him. They were extremely dangerous to anyone that considered blood a vital component, as a single scratch from them had the blood shooting out of you, much like the Bloodsteel Blades. Fortunately however...

One of the Silver Fangs was swapped with a Bloodsteel Blade, and he stabbed it in, relishing the look of utter surprise in the beast's eyes as it was sucked inexorably into the sword. Halfway through the process, a quartet of broadsword-wielding suits of armor surrounded him, already swinging down, and he stomped on the floor, expending an irritatingly large amount of chakra to move the solid stone and impale the suits of armor, leaving them dangling in the air, still moving despite being pierced through the chest.

Indeed, the many dismembered suits of armor that hadn't been cut by the cane blade were crawling around, and he stomped on a pair of arms as they tried to catch his legs. Then, he swung the remaining Silver Fang at a...thing; something that much resembled a large trunk of dead flesh on two massive legs, with the numerous hands sticking out of it holding a multitude of weapons.

Holy Light exploded, a radiance nigh-blinding, and the thing roared. Naruto pounced to the side, corkscrewing his body, avoiding the shower of weapons. He landed, twisted, and spun, pumping a massive amount of fire chakra through the Silver Fang.

The explosion rocked the courtyard, and he dived backwards, rolling across the floor, going with the shockwave, skidding to a stop. He glanced to the side, where the Shades were devouring the weaker Shades and living shadows they had found.

Marianne however...

A casual backhand from her had a bat-like monstrosity sailing through the air, landing with a resounding smack far away, its body shattered beyond use. She turned, pointing a finger at an approaching amalgam of corpses. A line of darkness shot out, piercing it straight through the middle, before suddenly sprouting gigantic thorns and spikes, rotating and tearing the beast apart in a storm of meat.

Her eyes shone briefly, and the Bloodhounds about to leap upon her burst apart, the blood that made them up reaching into the air before going down as lethal spears of hardened blood, impaling the swarm of bat monsters and any ground enemy that had the unfortunate luck of being within range.

Naruto leaped to her side, the Silver Fangs flashing ominously, glancing at the temporary circle of peace she had created. "I've heard of fighting for every inch of the way, but this is ridiculous." He muttered, glancing at the remains of the armored army, which were advancing threateningly.

The Shades moved, enveloping them. There was a loud crunch of rent metal, and when they moved away, there were rumpled sheets of flattened steel all over the place. He glanced at the massive double doors to the castle, furrowing his brow as his Sight pierced through it, finding a sphere of energy in the room beyond.

Sweat beaded down his face as he went past that, penetrating the spatial sphere and finding a vague human shape lying peacefully in the center, with no sign of blood in it.

He closed his eyes, feeling a headache from the strain, but ignored it through an act of will. "Zecharayas is near. He's just past that door." The Shades moved, once again opening the entrance, and they moved into the room; a sort of ballroom with balconies high up on the walls and a grand staircase in front of them.

A dozen humanoid shapes that made the air around them contract and distort phased out of the walls, and the blonde frowned, the light of his blades throbbing aggressively. "Temporal Vanguards. Damn. I can't get anywhere near those without aging into a dead man."

Marianne's response was to summon Lethalis and throw it.

The scythe spun around the room, bisecting the Temporal Vanguards at the waist and returning to her hand in the span of a second.

Naruto blinked, glancing at her, then at the slowly dissolving Vanguards. "Well, that simplifies things." All the time in the world wouldn't do shit against an eternal weapon like a sister scythe to the one the Grim Reaper wielded.

There was a pause, before a swarm of monsters, demons, abominations, golems, and god knows what else appeared, either phasing through the walls, running out of secret passages, teleporting in, or having been there all the time but invisible.

Naruto had one thing to say: "Well, crap." He muttered, his eye twitching at the sheer amount, before he poured more chakra through the Silver Fangs, temporarily halting the ones heading for him. He charged, face eerily calm as he delved into the instinctual state he used only when in the most dire of situations.

A slash bisected a wraith, and a released Silver Fang erupted in an explosion of Holy Light as it pierced the flesh of an abomination of corpses. A quick switch had a Bloodsteel Blade stabbing into a Balrog, withdrawing the blade the moment he pierced the flesh enough that he COULD draw out the blood, the Balrog too surprised to find a human with a blood-draining weapon to resist the siphoning of its blood.

A golem caught him in its arms, and he frowned, studying the stone arms that were just about to crush him.

An annoying expenditure of chakra had it exploding into shards that temporarily drove his grounded enemies away, and he sidestepped, stabbing the Silver Fang in the cranium of a diving undead drake, a quick burst of Holy Light shattering the enchanted corpse.

The Balrog finally got a hang of the wound he had inflicted upon it, and enraged, it breathed fire upon him, lashing its whip in afterward. Naruto fed the flames into the lone Silver Fang, sidestepping the whip. He pointed the Silver Fang at the surprised Balrog, gathering a substantial amount of chakra in the blade.

The Silver Fang ejected from the hilt, burning in a focused fire, like a laser, and he swung the blade, bisecting any enemies near him within the radius of a circle, impaling the Balrog and any others that he hadn't taken down using the burning blade with stone spikes.

He clicked his tongue, his weapons disappearing, and eight shadow clones appeared. "Lightning Rasengan. Now." He ordered, and they obeyed, a sphere of crackling electricity forming in their hands.

His victims had a moment to look surprised, before the clones charged, and the Lightning Rasengan discharged mightily in their midst, utterly annihilating the weaker foes and mortally wounding or driving away the stronger ones.

Annoying really. The jutsu would be perfect if he could just make it stop exploding everytime it hit the enemy. Or at least not hurt him when it did. So far, the only safe way to use it was through clones. Nevertheless, TECHNICALLY, he had completed the Rasengan (since the reason it was incomplete was the lack of element). Now, all he had to do was make it stop exploding and get the kinks out of the other elements.

Something screeched behind him, and he turned, just in time to see a bat-like monstrosity get plucked from the air by one of Marianne's Shades and subsequently crushed. He looked higher, and blinked at the sight of six of the Shades (not including the one that had saved him) annihilating all air units.

He glanced to the side in the moment of respite, noting Marianne cleaving through her enemies as a shark would through water with Lethalis, three Shades helping her take them down.

His enemies rushed at him once again, and a sudden curtain of darkness annihilated the majority of them. The rest of Marianne's Shades.

Naruto sighed, appearing beside green-eyed queen. "As irritating as it is to say, I'm at my limit. I only have enough chakra for five more A-rank attacks, if that, and as good as I am, I won't be able to survive with just swordskill. Any ideas?"

A tremor of power pulsed from the sphere, and all of them stopped, staring as the spatial sphere throbbed once, twice, before disappearing altogether.

A presence proclaimed itself, a cold, impassive presence that could only be described as detached. The smoke cleared, and man of medium height was revealed.

He was pale, just like all vampires, and his hair was a pure black of medium length, his bangs barely touching his eyebrows. His eyes were cold, oh so very cold, and a shade of blue that could only be referred to as azure.

Dressed in black riding boots, stiff black pants with artistic patches of cobalt and a magnificent sword belted to the left, a blue and black nobleman's shirt and dark blue coat, he was imperial in appearance, a man who, just by a glance, was obviously a king. He took a step forward, and was it him, or did the creatures actually flinch?

Naruto frowned, activating his Sight at the sword belted to his left, eyes widening at what he saw. It wasn't as legendary or powerful as Marianne's, but it still hurt to look, and he shut it down immediately.

The man continued, stopping in front of them, and the Shades writhed uneasily. He looked to the sides, at the numerous beings, the action cool and controlled, his lips in a perpetual neutral line that reminded him so much of Yareno. Slowly, his gaze went back to them, causing his muscles to freeze in instinctual fear.

"You two...are noisy." His voice was utterly devoid of emotion, a chilling sound that was all he could ever speak in, for he was Zecharayas Istanbul, the Azure King, the Emotionless.


	15. Chapter 15

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"You two...are noisy." His voice was utterly devoid of emotion, a chilling sound that was all he could ever speak in, for he was Zecharayas Istanbul, the Azure King, the Emotionless.

Naruto felt a mad giggle threaten to burst out of his mouth, one of equal parts fear and euphoria.

Zecharayas was every bit the terrifying presence his power had made him out to be, but that was it: for once, his power was _accurate_.

He had tried it out before, trying to experience what it felt to be in the Azure King's presence.

He had ended up comatose for a few hours.

Several repeats later, he could finally keep himself relatively composed, and in truth, if it wasn't for that, he would be making a fool of himself lying in a fetal position in front of the two oldest vampires in existence.

'_Thank the gods I asked for the change. If not...well, my plans would get a DAMN big roadblock.'_

Zecharayas' gaze rose upward ever so slightly over their heads, and Naruto knew he was using his Sight, looking past the room they were in, into the courtyard and probably past even that.

The vampire frowned, the action that would seem natural to any other seemingly...fake, as if even that was done only through copying someone else without knowledge of what it was (vaguely like a parrot repeating your words), and the creatures that had seen it flinched. "You destroyed the specter and the battalion I had stationed there. Shame."

The injured Balrog's whip crackled sinisterly with unholy fire, while a Bloodhound growled menacingly, its body bubbling with repressed bloodlust. These sounds incited the others to animation, and the air was filled with the clamor of claws raking across the floor, ponderous bodies scraping against the ground, hostile wingbeats in the air, and other, more bizarre, but no less terrifying, sounds.

"Enough." The single soft-spoken word was sufficient to make the entire swarm freeze or otherwise try their best to be silent. "Back to your posts." He ordered, and the beasts moved, going back the way they appeared with no protest at all. Such was the obedience the Azure King commanded in his subjects.

Zecharayas looked at Marianne, his face most easily described as bored, if he could feel even that. "Marianne. So you've awakened before me."

The Emerald Queen nodded, before gesturing to Naruto. "I have him to thank."

Slowly, his gaze shifted to the blonde, and he raised an eyebrow, the act seemingly as false as the frown. "A follower of yours?"

She shook her head. "No. They were all wiped out."

"Then what is he?"

Naruto stepped before him as the cane appeared in his grasp, his face neutral, his eyes containing a cold glint that made Zecharayas assess him as something beyond a petty worm. Naruto studied the vampire, his Sight wracking his mind with pain as it tried to process the entirety of the ancient king, but Naruto managed to force it to find out only the information he wanted, and eventually, he turned it off.

He smiled, the action much like a man who had found the childhood stories of a favored hero to be true. "Zecharayas Istanbul. You truly are every bit the ultimate warrior, aren't you?"

The atmosphere crackled with tense energy, and Marianne frowned, looking back and forth between each male. Zecharayas spoke; "What do you know, human?"

The smile widened, before he moved.

Zecharayas snapped into motion, drawing his sword and blocking the cane blade.

Marianne gasped, horrified, staring at the two and waiting for the inevitable result of Naruto's demise.

It didn't come. If anything, Zecharayas seemed...impressed. "That weapon..." He trailed off, his eyes fixated on the gleaming steel of the cane blade.

"Wouldn't have done shit if you were serious. You're physically the weakest of the Originators, but I know for a fact you can run circles around me, literally." Naruto snorted. "But that wasn't why I did that." He stepped back, disengaging from the locked blades and sheathing the cane blade.

The blonde gazed at the magnificent sword Zecharayas held, at the two and a half feet of deadly gleaming steel. "Exalturis. Every bit as beautiful and deadly as the stories made it out to be. Excalibur's a cheap knockoff of it. Literally. Doesn't have even a hundredth of its cutting power, and the difference of the energies in the blades aren't even worth mentioning."

Zecharayas returned Exalturis to its scabbard. "You would risk your life for a glimpse of my sword? You are a fool boy. Where do you get your ideas?"

Naruto scoffed. "Someone more powerful than you'll ever be told me to trust in my instincts. It told me to see your sword, so I did what I could to make that happen."

"You yourself told me your sword would have been useless. Why such a plan?" The vampire king asked.

"Because you'd never have expected me to have a sword like that. You saw what it was, and I surmised you'd use the only thing you were sure that could take it on." Naruto answered. "And if it turned out that the threat of my blade was not enough to make that happen, then all is lost, for if I cannot trust in that weapon, then what can I trust in?"

There was a silence, before Zecharayas' eyes shone briefly. "You...predicted me. What are you, boy?"

A smile. "I have a name, Azure King, and it's Naruto. As for who I am...I'm someone who wants you to take him seriously."

Another bout of silence, before Zecharayas looked at Marianne. "Interesting company you keep. Are the humans of this day all like this?" He glanced momentarily at Naruto. "If he IS a human."

Her response was a "No."

He shook his head. "I don't know whether to be thankful, or disappointed."

Naruto had already wandered off to where the sphere had originally been, and he raised an eyebrow. "I found Marianne nearly dead from blood-starvation, and yet, you're hale and healthy. You were prepared weren't you? The question is, how did you know?"

Zecharayas clasped his hands at his back, his face impassive. "Tell me, do YOU know?"

Naruto clicked his tongue, a cheeky grin on his face. "It was a premonition. A vague feeling as you were arranging the specifics of the plan, and you changed it midway, increasing the amount of blood set in the spatial sphere, and perhaps other, relatively unimportant particulars. The question is; did everyone do the same?"

For a moment, the two vampires simply stared at him, slight surprise in Marianne's, but absolutely nothing in Zecharayas, before the latter vampire turned and faced the doorway, his eyes shining in azure light. "Let's find out, shall we?"

An instant of peace, before the entire world seemed to move.

The earth groaned, shaking and trembling as if in an earthquake, and several times he heard the sharp crack of solid stone unmoved for millennia being forced to bend to someone else's will. There was an explosion of sound, and through the open door, Naruto saw increasingly large rays of moonlight appear in the cavern of the city.

There was a pulse of energy; psychic energy, and slowly, Naruto felt another mind with a presence much like, but nowhere near as chilling, as Zecharayas. Another one appeared, and another, and as the number continued to rise, so did the speed of the kingdom's rising.

'_Well damn. There's a lot more survivors here than in Marianne's world. I don't know whether to be pleased, or terrified.' _The blonde took a deep breath, struggling to calm his frazzled nerves. "Are any one of them hungry? I had some death row prisoners primed for summoning in case some of your vampires needed blood ASAP."

"A wise choice. Several are in need of sustenance, while others...are simply peckish."

Naruto nodded, and he moved out, forming handseals as he did so.

Marianne frowned, glancing at Zecharayas. "What is it with that sword of his that has you on edge? He speaks of it as if it was an equal of our weapons."

The ground stopped ascending, and at the edges of the city, great towered walls rose up. Zecharayas narrowed his eyes at Naruto's retreating back as he answered the question. "Because it is. Simply put, it is not natural. Beware it Marianne, for that blade is oblivion made form; something that is not meant to exist, yet does. The question is, however; where did he get it in the first place, and how?"

The brown-haired vampiress frowned. "An equal to Lethalis and Exalturis?"

Zecharayas nodded.

Marianne looked at Naruto, as with a burst of chakra and a cloud of smoke, multiple dozens of chained humans appeared. "The more I know about him, the more impressed I get."

The blue-eyed vampire hummed. "Tell me, what does the boy plan?"

The emerald queen smiled in nostalgia. "To unite the races. To make a world of peace, one where beings of different species may live in harmony."

"Many have tried, none have succeeded." Was the curt answer.

"Ahh, but tell me, have you honestly seen any other like him?" She retorted.

A moment of tense silence, before; "No."

"Then give him a chance. Hope is the driving force to all things great and small, and here, in our hands, is the greatest chance for a utopia we have ever seen."

"How great of a figure is he to his kind?" He asked after a moment of consideration.

The smile widened. "He's possibly the wealthiest man of his time, and though he is firm to his servants, it is tempered by kindness. Politically, he is every politician's worst nightmare; an invisible titan the public adores who knows their deepest secrets. Untouchable, but quite capable of making their life hell, if not outright ending their career. Even in military matters he is not to be trifled with, for one of the five major human armies owes their current gratifying situation to him."

Zecharayas shook his head. "Impressive. But it'll take more than that for me to follow him as of now." He continued at Marianne's puckered brow. "Ten years it was after the war before I went into slumber. You probably following not so far behind. The war crippled us, Marianne. Two entire races of vampires, exterminated. And of the two that survived? Heavily diminished. Of the three hundred or so elders of my kind, only two hundred exists. Before the war, more than four thousand middling (adult, but not elder yet) vampires walked this city. Now, only a tenth that number lives. And the newborns?"

His eyes flashed azure. "So numerous they were, but only twenty-three exceptional ones remain. I cannot risk what remains of my race in any endeavor for a utopia, not even for a man as powerful as him. I have to stay here, and guide the survivors on the path to recovery. If you are wise Marianne, you will do the same. You suffered more and have been left with less than I. It would be foolish to gamble with what little you have."

"You response was duly expected, Azure King." Naruto said, walking up to the two originators. He turned to Marianne, a slight grimace on his face. "He's right you know. You have less than a hundred survivors, and it would be a serious blow for them to lose their originator. It was stupid of me to risk your life in this."

The brown-haired vampiress scowled. "You honestly think you could have gotten this far without me? And what was that about expecting Zecharayas' answer?"

Naruto made a clicking sound with his tongue, gesturing to Zecharayas. "He has no emotions. He thinks purely on reason. Logical is what he is, and any logical king would think of his subjects before the friend of a friend. I had hoped I would be wrong, but it seems that wish was fleeting." He shook his head. "The risks were worth it Marianne. It's just a shame it didn't happen as I had hoped it would."

The blonde shrugged. "Nonetheless, you were of great assistance my lady. It would have been a lot harder to do all this without you, but I would have found way." He looked at Zecharayas. "Also, would I be right in assuming that you may help me once you get your race back on its feet?"

The Azure King raised a regal black eyebrow, before nodding slowly. "Maybe."

Naruto smiled brightly. "Good. Would you be interested in capable human servants who will serve without question, can tolerate any peculiarities that may come from having vampires as masters, and most of all; are loyal to their benefactor? Trust me on this, there are no strings attached. I simply wish for your kind to recover faster."

A pause, before; "Very well."

The smile widened. "Some will go on their own to this city, while others you'll have to pick up. I'll send some letters to clarify if need be." Naruto glanced at Marianne. "The same offer stands to you, too." He turned back to Zecharayas. "Well, I guess this is all I came here for. Shall we, my lady? Or do you wish to catch up on old times with your fellow Originator?"

Marianne shook her head, wondering if she'll ever fully understand the strange blonde human that had popped into her unlife. He knew things he should not, wielded things that shouldn't exist, and apparently planned for everything so that at the very least, nothing was a total loss. "No. Let's go. It's fine." They held hands, and in a whirl of darkness, they were gone.

Calmly, Zecharayas strode out to greet his awakened brethren.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A blur, and in the next instant, they were there.

Marianne grabbed him by the neck, slamming the surprised blonde against a tree, fangs bared aggressively. "What was that about? Were you satisfying some sexist urge of yours that you never bothered to show until now? Seriously! Risk my life? I am an Originator, human! Few things can harm me, much less damage me to a point beyond my regeneration."

A ripple of movement, and the cane slammed onto her thigh.

There was a sharp crack, of bone that could withstand inhuman pressure snapping, and she howled, eyes shrinking into tiny dots as all her unnatural power seemed to slip away from her grasp. She fell to the ground, writhing feebly. "Wh-what?"

Naruto's eyes glinted menacingly. "You are wrong Marianne. So wrong. The possibility of you dying is as real as the very ground we walk on. You are powerful, yes. Nigh-invulnerable and immortal, yes. But all it takes is a single mistake, and a weapon with enough power and a wielder with enough skill to kill you." The blade slipped out of its sheath, and Naruto positioned it a hair short of her jugular. Marianne paled in fear and shock. "Just like now."

To Marianne, for a moment, it seemed as if he was going to kill her, such was the ice in his eyes, then, he sheathed the blade, the cane disappearing, and he knelt down to her, pulling her to his chest and cradling her gently, nuzzling her hair lovingly. "Damn you, you arrogant empress. Don't EVER think of yourself as invincible like that again. This isn't the world you once knew. This is different, and I am but one of a multitude of others with the means annihilate even an Originator."

The brown-haired queen honestly didn't know how to react with the flaring pain in her thigh, the soothing feeling of his gentle ministrations, and his rather blunt and parental-seeming rebuke.

Naruto sighed, and his hands gently reached to her thigh, testing the damaged area. "Damn, I think the bone's moved a bit. This'll hurt. Bite me if you have to, to stifle the scream." His hands grasped her thigh, and when he moved the bone, she latched onto his shoulder, just in time to keep her scream from being heard for miles.

Naruto clicked his tongue at the pain on his shoulder, but ignored it in favor of the thought of how much pain she must be in. He hugged her close. "Sorry. Forgive me. I'd been tense all day, and meeting Zecharayas didn't help at all. You grabbed me, and I struck out at the first thing I could reasonably attack."

Her hands snaked around his neck, and for a fraction of a second, he thought she was going to kiss him.

Then her hands tightened, and his eyes widened as he struggled to breathe.

An instant short of him finally stabbing her with his weapons, the pressure subsided, and Marianne snuggled against him. "That was for hurting me, you blasted confusing human."

Naruto blinked, and felt at his throat protectively. "Does that mean you're not going to hurt me back anymore?"

"Yes, but I still have to pay you back for making me feel _helpless_ with my powers gone." She said, and the subtle inflections in certain words made the blonde shiver unconsciously. "Speaking of my powers...it's because of that cane blade isn't it? If so, where did you get it?"

The cane appeared once again, and he let a few inches of edged steel show itself. "Because of my blade? Yes. Yes it was. As for how I got it, I have an entity whose sheer magnitude I can never hope to grasp to thank." He sheathed the blade. "For this blade, and so much more."

She frowned. "How long is this going to last?"

"Twenty-four hours."

The green-eyed vampiress looked at him. "Then you're going to be my pillow for that duration."

He blanched. "What? B-but, I have things to do!"

"And I'm currently ridiculously helpless because of your damned blade. What if one of those so-called 'multitude of others with the power to kill an Originator' attacks me? I'll be helpless. Besides, I can't heal with my powers gone, so I couldn't even move anywhere. So there. Until my powers are gone, you're going to be my pillow and protector." She said, emphasizing several words with either a poke or snuggling deeper into his chest.

For several minutes, there was silence, before Naruto looked up. "I can hear you laughing. If you hadn't done so much for me, I would curse you."

Marianne wondered if he had suddenly cracked and gone insane.

The blonde grinded his teeth together, before standing up, lifting Marianne in his arms, and teleporting through a rapid series of shunshins to a safehouse. He didn't bother finding out whose it was, only that it wouldn't be used by anyone within twenty-four hours. With that certainty, he went in, closed the door, sat on the bed and leaned against the wall, and let the beautiful vampiress snuggle against him to her satisfaction.

'_Blasted woman, if only she knew...' _Maybe she knew, and maybe she didn't, but she was causing hell to his hormones. Mystical creature of the night or not, all of a vampire's abilities did not come straight from an otherworldly source. Even nullified, a vampire's body was naturally powerful. Bones dense and strong, skin smooth and durable, and muscles that gave them superhuman strength, speed, and endurance.

She may no longer be able to throw a hill at him, but he wouldn't be surprised to see her rip a steel rod from the ground and use it like a two-pound club. That being said, her unnatural vampiric sexual magnetism was gone, but there was still the subtle pheromones a vampire's body naturally exuded as a foci for said vampiric magnetism, and even without the unnatural touch, the raw natural version was still hell on him. That, and the fact that she really WAS physically sexy as hell.

He sighed, and tried his best to ignore or resist his lust, using every trick, skill, and ability he knew.

Twenty-four hours later, he had succeeded, but only barely.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto was growling animalistically to himself when he came to his house, but that stopped when he noticed the tenseness in Yareno's shoulders.

He pushed his current sexual frustrations to the back of his mind, mind screaming for answers as to what might touch the incredible composure of his butler. "What's wrong? Tell me."

Yareno frowned. "It's Kai. She's worsened considerably. We believe she's finally reaching the end of her tether."

Naruto froze, mind locked onto a single though: _'She's...dying.'_

He shouldn't care. He had done all that he could, seen it all with his power. There was no hope. She WOULD die. So why did he feel guilty? The question was answered, for he had yet to use his improved power for her.

Naruto's eyes shrunk as he processed the information given to him. There was hope. There was a way, but no matter what he did though, he could not see if it would work if he tried. But it also risked jeopardizing his plans.

He gritted his teeth. Do it? Why not? Instinct was screaming at him to take a chance, and so far, it hadn't led him astray. With a half-seal, he appeared in Kai's room.

His face fell, and he immediately went to her, grasping her sickness-drained hands in his. "Kai. Do you hear me, girl?"

Faintly, her eyes fluttered, and her gaunt face erupted into a smile when she saw him. "Oh Naruto-sama, you came. I'm content to die, knowing you're here with me."

His heart beat wildly, and he pleaded to all that there was for the plan revealed to him to work. "Don't say those words. Don't even think them. I found a way to heal you just now, but it's risky."

She blinked, then stared intensely at him. "A...solution?" Her smile widened, and her hands squeezed his, weakly. "My life is in your hands, my lord. I trust in you. Even if you fail, I know you did you best. You're a better man than any I know."

His lips seemed dry as he spoke. "You might...change, from it. It isn't a human solution."

"As long as no life is sacrificed in place of mine."

His heart trembled. So kind, so compassionate. Why did fate have to give her this sickness? Why not a villain instead? "No. No life."

"Then do it."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He brought her out of the house, moving to the forest nearby, travelling to as far as needed as fast as he could. He found a clearing,

He laid her down gently, then slammed his palm on the ground, carefully-molded earth chakra raising a plateau and flattening its surface. He laid the other palm down, and with focused concentration, carved symbols and seals that were just now being known to him, completely different from the ones he had originally planning on using. _If Kai had __**died**__._

In the end, it was basically one massive circle, with two smaller ones connected to it on each side, all three circles filled with ridiculously complex and otherworldly writing. Kai was on one little circle, him on the other.

He blushed when he took off his and her clothes, for clothing would hamper the process, and with more than a little bit of trepidation, he settled down, kneeling on his circle as Kai lay on hers.

He breathed deeply. "It is time." He slammed his palm on two symbols.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kyuubi no Kitsune sighed in bliss as she finished the book, the fox ears on her head twitching happily.

What a wonderful ending! Dead enemies, the heroes going on a universe-wide honeymoon, and the empire on the way to recovery!

She reached to her right, and frowned when she didn't feel any. A glance to the left had her exclaiming; "Ah! So I've finished all of them already? Well, I guess it's time I to go and get some more!" She stood up, stretching, and any red-blooded male would have stared at the creamy expanse of skin she showed with the loose yukata on; the only thing she ever bothered wearing.

Nine red tails swaying contentedly, the bijuu sauntered forward, absentmindedly appreciating the mindscape of her host.

Naruto's mindscape was cut into two. One, a beautiful expanse of healthy grass-filled fields that seemed to change whenever you weren't looking bordered by a wall of dense, towering trees. The other, a massive library whose ceiling seemed to reach the sky itself.

Arriving at the library, she deposited the books she had finished on the librarian's desk.

The librarian, a black angular humanoid shape whose only other color were twin spots of white on its head for eyes, seemed to give the impression of raising an eyebrow. "Finished already?" It asked in a robotic voice. Kyuubi smiled, and the librarian seemed to shrug, before passing a hand above the books, the things disappearing as his hand passed by them. "There. Back where they came from."

As the nine-tails turned to hunt for more books to read, the librarian spoke once more. "Oh, and by the way, you've got a visitor."

Kyuubi raised an eyebrow. A visitor? She ever had only one visitor, and that was her host, back when he was a child.

The boy's mindscape back then had been a limitless expanse of darkness with a gigantic cage at the center as her prison, and he had appeared out of nowhere, half-covered in shadows, the only thing about him visible his blue eyes.

**[Flashback]**

"**What do you want, boy?" **The giant fox questioned menacingly.

The blue eyes, the only thing it could see about him, twinkled, and continued to stare.

For several minutes, there was silence, only two pairs of eyes, one red, one blue, staring at each other.

"Can I have some of your chakra?" The boy finally asked.

The fox laughed. **"And why should I, boy? What do you have to pay me for it?"**

A shrug. "Nothing."

Silence.

"**Nothing?"**

"Yup."

"**Are you a fool?"**

A grin became visible in the shadows. "Neh. I don't really need your chakra. I just want it because it'll make my job easier. But if you won't give me any, then fine, I'll just go with the original plan."

Once more, silence.

The fox laughed. **"Insolent boy." **It raised a paw, and red chakra coalesced into a ball, floating to the boy. **"Here. Take it, and do whatever you want with it."**

The boy took it, the smile widening. He looked up to the fox. "Thanks Kyuubi. Thanks." There was heartfelt gratitude in it, and for a moment, Kyuubi seemed taken aback, before the boy disappeared.

The fox huffed, before settling down once more to sleep.

**[Flashback End]**

A few days after that, she had woken up to find herself in the place she was now, with the cage replaced by a white collar with black symbols on her neck. Upon approaching the library, the librarian had berated her and told her she could only borrow books if she was a respectful humanoid being.

A few weeks of curiosity for the knowledge in there had her turning into the red-haired, red-eyed fox lady she was now. Needless to say, she was suitably surprised at the books there. Her host was either a ridiculous bookworm, or had stuffed all this information straight into his head. The librarian had discounted both theories, and she had proceeded to make a new one every few months or so.

So far, none was right.

Kyuubi shook her head, glancing at the librarian. "My host?"

A nod. "He's waiting at the warfare section."

With a shrug, Kyuubi ambled on to said sector, wondering what her host looked like now. Or would he be covered in shadows just like last time?

"Hello."

She blinked, looking at the sound of the voice. Oh.

Naruto, dressed once more in his black suit, sat comfortably on a chair, one leg over the other and his cane hanging onto one of the chair's arms, a book held in one hand. He gestured to the chair in front of him. "Sit. Please."

Raising an eyebrow, Kyuubi sat down, crossing her legs. "So. You're my host."

A nod.

She put a hand to her chin, and 'hmmed'.

For several minutes, they just looked at each other, then, Naruto sighed, placing the book on the table and standing up. "I've only ever had a conversation with you once, and that was short and straight to the point. I'll be doing the same this time. I'm releasing you."

Kyuubi blinked. Once, twice, then she laughed. "You're kidding right?" At his deadpan look, she stopped. "Wait...you're serious?"

A door appeared beside him. "I'm releasing you, to save someone I care about. Please, save her."

She raised her hands, waving them defensively. "Wait just a minute here. This is all too sudden, and I still have several series I want to finish before I get out of this place."

Naruto grimaced, and he grabbed a hand. With more strength than she thought possible in him, he threw her through the door, and felt herself fall.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kyuubi blinked, finding herself standing on solid ground and not falling to god knows where.

She looked around her, noting the infinite expanse of flowery pastures, spotting small animals every so often. "Where am I?"

"I think we're in my mind."

Kyuubi turned, spotting Kai. "What?" The question seemed more on what a female who looked exceptionally like her was doing here.

Kai smiled at a small bunny that had hopped close. She knelt, picking it up and cradling it in her arms. "It's so lovely. I only wish I had seen it sooner."

Kyuubi grinded her teeth together. Was this some kind of nightmare? One that tortured her by showing her a ridiculously sweet version of her?

Kai turned to her. "Hello. What's your name?"

The Kitsune drew herself up with all the regality she could muster. "I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, _girl._" She said proudly, her nine tails waving behind her, white fangs gleaming.

Kai blinked, glancing at the nine tails, then at the fox ears. "Oh. Hello Kyuubi. My name's Kai. Nice to meet you." She held out a hand.

Flabbergasted, Kyuubi dumbly took and shook it, wondering what the hell the thing in front of her was.

"Would you mind if I sit? I'm a bit frail you see."

Kyuubi growled, but nodded tersely, and after a moment of consideration, she sat down too.

The Kitsune's look-alike smiled. "So, Kyuubi, what brings you here?"

Another growl. "That blasted host of mine threw me through a door. A moment later, I was here."

Kai put a finger to cheek. "Host? Was it...Naruto?"

A snarl. "Yes. That was his name."

Kai shook her head, marveling at her employer. "Lord Naruto is a Jinchuuriki? I never knew."

"_Lord _Naruto? What is he to you?" Kyuubi asked.

A sigh, one that contained more than just fondness. Dear Kami, this girl _loved _him? "The best man I've ever known. He saved me, he offered me a life, and I'm forever his for that."

Stiffening, Kyuubi asked; "Do you know why I'm here?"

Kai tilted her head to the side, thinking, before a resigned smile formed on her face. "I'm dying." She said with finality. "I have a sickness, you see? And Naruto-sama has been looking for a cure ever since he found out about it. He told me he found one today. Are you the cure?"

Grinding her teeth, Kyuubi nodded. So this was who she was supposed to save?

The red-haired human 'hmmed'. "Tell me Kyuubi, do you hate humans?" Finally, something she could sink her teeth into.

Kyuubi smiled. "Hate? In general? No, not at all. To me, and most demons, you humans are either food, or pests. Your kind are always going on about morality and such, scouring the world for our kind to destroy us 'evil beings' as you call it, when all around you, humans as bad, or worse, than us, gets to walk free and cause more suffering. Hypocrites, all of them."

If Kyuubi had been expecting an answer, it certainly wasn't a wide smile. "W-What did I say? Why are you smiling?" Kyuubi stuttered.

Kai sighed joyfully. "I'm glad. Lord Naruto always told us not to hate your kind. He thought the same, you see? He was more focused on his own kind than yours, and he always told us that if demons were bad, then wolves and bears were, too. It's your nature to kill and eat humans, just as it is a human's nature to kill and eat animals." She scratched the bunny fondly, and the animal twitched cutely.

Kyuubi gulped. This was REALLY getting out of hand. Somehow, she had ended up having a conversation with an outrageously altruistic and sickeningly sweet beautiful young girl IN LOVE with her host. She needed to end this, FAST! "Let's just get to the healing, shall we?"

Another smile. "So demons CAN heal. It's good to know your kind really can do good."

Kyuubi stifled a wince. This was preposterous. The girl was as pure of heart as anyone could get, and did she HAVE to look like such a damn angel holding that bunny?

Shuddering, she put her hands on Kai's temples and scanned her body. What she saw shocked her.

Frail didn't come close to describing it. She had no hope. The amount of demonic energy needed to heal her would kill her, and too little would be inadequate.

Kai noted her features. "Is something...wrong?"

Kyuubi shook her head wearily as she withdrew her hands. Great, now she was feeling miserable because a pure-hearted person right in front of her was going to die. "There's no hope. I can't heal you."

The red-haired human tilted her head to the side. "Are you sure? Lord Naruto told me that the solution would turn me into something not human."

Kyuubi's chest froze. Oh. THAT. But that only worked if...she looked at Kai, then thought of herself. Oh. Crap. It would work.

Kai reached out, grasping Kyuubi's hands. "I've seen that look before. There IS a solution, but there something you don't like about it. Tell me. I don't want to be happy if it means someone else is suffering because of it."

Gods, did the girl HAVE to be so compassionate? "It's...a bonding. Body and soul combined. Only works if the two look like each other."

Kai understood Kyuubi's dislike of it. "You don't want to bond with a human." Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, but she restrained them. She wanted to be happy, but not at the cost of someone else's. "It's okay. I've had a good life. I met good people, and I managed to spend time with the man I love. Most people don't get as much."

Kyuubi howled. "Dammit!" She hugged Kai, and their bodies pulsed with energy. "Do it! Before I lose my nerve!"

Kai looked surprised, before closing her eyes and hugging Kyuubi back. "Thank you Kyuubi. Thank you so very much."

The Kitsune growled. "I better not turn into a pacifist, Kai. It'll ruin my reputation."

Kai laughed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto felt the seal on his stomach pulse, in tandem with the seal on the ground and Kai's smaller one. He closed his eyes, visualizing the seal on Kyuubi's neck. Several other parts of the circle glowed, and he released Kyuubi.

Red chakra burst out of him, all but tearing through him in its eagerness. It settled into the larger circle, then slowly but gradually funneled into Kai.

He gritted his teeth, feeling as if his blood had been turned to acid and his muscles wicks for a fire. Change. He was changing. He had known that from the start, but damn, why didn't he think of trying out the pain when his power got improved?

He closed his eyes, and forced the bijuu chakra to move as he willed; throughout his body and through his hands on a constant flow. There. Still painful, but bearable. A constant searing flow instead of an erratic river of acid.

The blonde sighed, feeling cramps forming on his calves. Damn, and this was supposed to take hours.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The final stages. This was going to hurt.

If the first part had been painful, the end was hell.

Kyuubi's chakra had risen up like a tidal wave, so much and so fast that the middle circle couldn't take it all, and a pillar of red had shot into the sky, visible to everyone for a hundred miles. A pillar from HIS circle. Oh, how his skin burned.

More seals activated, and the floodgates opened. The pillar from his circle disappeared, shooting back to the ground to shift to the middle circle, then shooting back up as an even thicker pillar. By then, all of Kyuubi's chakra had been taken from him, and no doubt everyone on the continent could see the ray of light that was painting the entire damn sky red.

The last seals triggered, and all that was left, all that was in the middle circle, slammed into Kai.

His circle had been a ray visible for a hundred miles. The middle circle turned the sky red. Kai's circle was so bright everything everyone saw for five full minutes was red.

There was a pulse of energy, a proclamation of a presence, and then, the red was gone, the seals were blurred, and Kai...

Hastily, he grabbed the scroll from his pile of clothes, unsealing new clothes for himself and her. Hastily, he put on his own, before slipping Kai (or was it Kyuubi?) into the kimono he had brought, fondly running his fingers through her silky crimson hair.

Nine fox tails? Check. Fox ears? Check. Fangs? Check, after easing open her full, oh so kissable red lips and spotting the lengthened canines.

"Alive. Ah, god, you're alive." He murmured, nuzzling her cheek with his own. So smooth. Was any human's skin this smooth, this pale? Probably not. But he didn't care. She was Kai, and that was all that mattered.

He stood up, the unconscious Kitsune in his arms, and teleported back to his house.


	16. Chapter 16

**The Virtue of Knowledge: Power Unrivaled**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There, now will you lawyers PLEASE stop stalking me?**

**Note: If there are any grammar, spelling, or information mistakes, please tell me. I hate mistakes.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Kai, or was it Kyuubi?, woke up.

She sat up and looked around her: an obviously ridiculously expensive room, decorated with good taste. The drapes were slightly open, letting in a thin rectangle of sunlight.

Ears on top of her head twitched, and one part of her regarded it as an everyday thing, another with wonder. She blinked, then clapped her hands when she noticed how sharp her eyesight was. She had never been able to see that far and that clearly out of the window before. A flash of memories, and she frowned. Never before as Kai, but as Kyuubi, everything had always been this clear.

The door opened, and Yuna walked in with the implements for a sponge bath.

There was a pause, as the two females regarded each other with surprise.

Kai's (or was it Kyuubi's?) fox ears twitched.

Yuna squealed. Loudly. Then she proceeded to drop the things she had been holding and tackle Kai into the bed. "You're awake! Oh, we were so worried about you! Naruto-sama came in looking like a full-grown hunk with a foxy, and I MEAN foxy, you in his arms and started screaming for everyone to prepare the best EVERYTHING for you!"

Kai finally managed to get a word in. "You're not...afraid of me? Even if I've bonded with Kyuubi?" She wished she hadn't said the last part. Maybe they didn't know about the bonding? They were her friends, but being bonded to the strongest of the Bijuu could really test the limit.

The tan woman blinked. "Bonding?" She glanced at the furry fox tails on the bed, then she rolled her eyes. "Okay, so you're one with the Kyuubi, so what? You're still the sweet red-eyed redhead we all know and love. And besides," Yuna proceeded to slip both her hands into the Kitsune's clothes, grabbing her breasts and squeezing.

Kai shrieked. "Wha-Yuna! What are you doing?" The tails moved menacingly, fire sprouting from the tips. Kai put them out before they could start firing at her friend.

The brown-haired woman giggled, pulling back. "Last I knew, you were a D. Those were DEFINITELY Es."

Kai blushed. One side of her wanted to wring Yuna's neck, while another knew that that was just Yuna acting Yuna.

Yuna took a lock of red hair, smiling at it. "Your hair's so much redder. And your skin, so pale. And even though you're not wearing any lipstick, your lips are scarlet." She squealed. "Oh! I wish **I **was the one bonded to Kyuubi! You look so sexy!"

Screaming abounded as Yuna proceeded to rip Kai's clothes off and comment on the 'improvements' on her body. "My god! If you were curvy before, now you're-you're-EEH! So sexy! And you don't have any of those scratches or blemishes anymore! OOH! Is that cute birthmark on your butt still there?"

"Yuna! Let me go! This is embarrassing!"

Naruto barged into the room, having been silent as he stalked near it, thinking that someone had attacked Kai. He was greeted by the image of a rather disheveled Yuna with a naked Kai roughly on her lap, her ass facing in his direction. And yes, apparently, that cute birthmark on her butt WAS still there. Currently, however, his only thoughts were; _'That, is one nice ass...'_

Kai froze when Yuna suddenly stopped, before slowly turning her head to gaze at Naruto. She tried to resist the urge to drool.

Naruto, no matter how well-developed, had been twelve years old. The man staring at her with that hungry look that made her sex clench was no boy.

Five feet and ten inches of shirtless, muscled male graced her eyes. He was breathing heavily, sweat dripping sexily down his muscled arms and chest. Blue eyes that had captivated her before now made her want to stare and giggle deliriously. His hair, which had been relatively short and businesslike, was now longer and in disarray, reaching halfway down his neck and slightly covering his eyes, giving him a sexy, rugged look.

She gulped, feeling herself getting wet as she gazed at his toned body. She sniffed daintily, and she had a feeling her pussy had started leaking when she smelled the intense smell of his arousal. "Naruto..." She said, in a breathy, sultry voice made for sin. Naruto visibly stiffened, before blushing and running out, slamming the door closed.

There was silence, before Yuna said; "Oh, and I forgot to tell you; he changed when he came back. He's such a hunk isn't he? And he's been training with Yareno nearly all the time for three days, something about acclimating himself to new proportions. You know, that stiff butler can be really hot once he takes that shirt off and starts sweating. Ahh, two hot males duking it out, for hours on end. You have GOT to come with us sometime."

Kai swallowed. "Y-Yes. That would be fine." Oh god, that body, those eyes, that scent, she wasn't going to be able to think of anything but him for weeks!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto panted heavily as he leaned against the door.

He groaned as images of Kai assaulted him. Ah god, that girl had an ass to make any man drool. And the way she had been looking at him had had his heart beating faster, feeling as if he was in the same room as a furnace.

Then she had said his name in that new voice of hers...

Naruto moaned in frustration.

"If you're quite done daydreaming about your Kyuubified servant, would I suggest getting back into the fight?" Yareno's monotone voice broke him out of his reverie.

Naruto twitched, before facing the shirtless butler. "Shut up. I wasn't daydreaming."

"Fantasizing then. Or would ogling be a better word?"

A yell of embarrassment and rage, followed by several dozen explosions, then; "Ow. That actually hurt. Allow me to pay you back in kind." Explosions abounded.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"AUGH! I can't take it anymore Yareno! Those girls are going to be the death of me! And those bastards! Snickering behind my back!" Naruto shouted in his soundproofed room.

Yareno was utterly still save for his eyes, which traced his pacing master back and forth. "Are you quite done yet?"

"Oh HELL no. I have a lot more to complain on. And Kai! Damn it, what madness had her asking if she could resume her maid duties? She's bonded to the freakin Kyuubi! I know Kai herself would be humble enough for that, but Kyuubi herself would rather drown than be a servant to ANYONE! It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't around to look at her. These days, I can't seem to stop looking at ANY female. And with Kai, it looks as if her clothes have shrunk."

'_Not madness. Yuna. And the only reason you keep ogling your female servants are because for some twist of fate, all of the females you hired are drop-dead gorgeous. And no, Kai's clothes didn't shrink. She's just gotten curvier. Just be happy I got her new ones and she finally figured out how to retract those fox tails and ears.' _Yareno thought to himself. "It's called puberty."

Naruto's eyes twitched. "You don't say."

Yareno rolled his eyes. "Allow me to attempt an explanation for your sudden awareness of your servants' sexuality and unexpected impulses to have them undressed. When you put the Kyuubi in her, the long hours of being saturated by the bijuu's chakra changed your body, aging you from a twelve-year-old to a fit man in his twenties. However, there is more to it than that."

"And that would be?" The twitching was getting decidedly more intense.

Yareno continued. "One way or another, you're faster, stronger, more durable than anyone I know. Your body is on high-speed all the time, as if it expects a war to erupt anytime. You have a ridiculously high metabolism because of this, and a faster metabolism means a more intense sex drive. You have a lot of energy to burn, and if you don't use them up on something else, your body encourages you to use them up on sex. Being around a lot of beautiful women just makes it worse."

The blonde looked as if he wanted to kill himself. "Well fuck."

"Indeed. An S-class spar would certainly be adequate, but I do not recover as fast as you do, and you recuperate completely the next day, so according to my calculations, you would need five S-class warriors of my level and type to have a sparring schedule that will last indefinitely."

Naruto proceeded to slam his head on the wall. He scowled when he found that it didn't hurt all that much and that he was actually breaking the stone surface. "Any otherideas?"

"You could always take the girls up on their offers." The butler suggested.

The blonde blinked. "Offers? What offers?"

Yareno inwardly sighed. _'You can manipulate a hundred politicians so finely, they practically dance on tightropes for you, but you cannot even comprehend basic innuendos.' _"Their offers of their doors always being unlocked if you wish to visit them in the night and make love to them." Some had suggested a foursome. And then there were the quadruplets...

A moment of silence, before, "WHAT? That's what they meant with that? No! HELL no! They're my servants! That's like...like..."

"Some big businessman having a secret love affair with his secretary who always wears that ridiculously-short miniskirt?"

"Yes! Exactly like tha-I mean no! I mean yes! AH!" Naruto was running around like a headless chicken now.

Yareno sighed visibly. "If you wish, I can always call in some professionals."

The ex-Jinchuuriki blinked. "Professionals?"

Yareno clarified.

"Whores."

...

...

"_**NO!" **_Naruto shouted. "No! Never in a thousand years!" Then he blinked. "Wait a minute, why multiple?"

"Because considering how much energy you have to burn, it would take at least three girls before you're satisfied. Every. Day." The butler explained.

"Burn me. Just burn me now." Naruto said in a deadpan.

Yareno shook his head. "That will be extremely hard to do. It seems that your body has developed an especially high resistance to heat and fire. I would need something like the Sharingan's Amaterasu to burn you properly. Or throw you into an active volcano. Either way."

The ex-Jinchuuriki groaned. "I hate my life."

'_You have everything any self-respecting male would ask for; money, women, power, but you're too socially and sexually inept to appreciate them all.' _Yareno stifled his male urge to punch his lights out. It would be bad on his rep if everyone found out he punched his master out of simple jealousy.

Sighing, Naruto stood up, scowling heavily. "Whatever. Either way, I'll deal with that later on. It's time I met up with Danzo."

Yareno nodded. "Ahh, about that. Are you sure Danzo is a good choice? He has a rather _shady _reputation."

The blonde shook his head. "He has simply lost his way. Once, all that he did was for Konoha, but bitterness, jealousy, and the years have gotten to him, and now he does what would be good for him, because he is best for Konoha. The man I want, the man that shone so brightly in the war, is still inside him. All that I have to do is to pull him back out."

Yareno sighed. "Aren't you at least going to let me come with you? Spars are fine and good, but a real battle is different. You still haven't acclimated to your new body." Naruto still sometimes crushed what he was holding.

Naruto waved him off. "And the best way to do that is a real battle. Better one I myself will orchestrate than one an enemy did. And two S-class warriors will put Danzo and his ANBU too much on edge. I can't have that."

The butler nodded. "Very well." Naruto opened the window and prepared the leap out. Yareno raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to teleport?"

Naruto shook his head. "Hell no. I'm going to run. Like you said, I need to burn up all that energy, and I don't want to be full of it when around women." He turned to leap, then blinked, before looking back to Yareno. "Oh, and by the way, you're going to be training someone when I get back." With that, he disappeared before his butler could protest. A quick glance outside showed him running towards Fire Country at speeds that should not be possible without any jutsu, not even leaving a dust cloud.

Yareno rolled his eyes, then walked out of the room to resume his duties.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Sir. There's an intruder in the compound."

Danzo glanced at the ANBU. "Is there something special I should know about this intruder?" Aside from the fact that he had been told about the intruder while it was still inside. Typically, he was told of intruders at the end of the day, after they had been successfully captured and interrogated, then disposed of.

"It seems as if he's heading for you. He knows all the routes, and as far as we know, he's moving in a straight line to here."

The answer made the gears inside Danzo's head spin. So, someone somewhere knew about him, about his compound, and had probably sent someone to either capture or kill him. Probably the latter.

The aged ninja stood up, grasping his cane tightly. "Seal off all the exits. No one gets out or goes in until the man is apprehended." With that, he strode outside, where half a dozen ROOT members were already waiting for him. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a syllable, footsteps were heard.

They turned to face the direction of the sound; from the far length of the corridor they were in. Danzo frowned. If it were his ROOT ninja, they wouldn't make a sound, and as far as he knew, there were no visitors today... "He's here already?"

"Apparently, sir." One of the ANBU answered, settling into a stance.

The footsteps shifted, suddenly being heard behind them.

Before any of them could turn, one of them flew forward, skidding against the floor and crashing to the wall, unmoving. In the time it took them to face the intruder, another had had his head slammed face first against the ground. He didn't stand up.

The interloper was blonde, crouching, still holding the head of his last victim, and one of the remaining four ANBU sliced down with his ninjato. The blonde stood up, seemingly casually, and yet he had moved so fast he was a blur, and he batted the weapon away by the flat of its blade almost condescendingly, with enough force to make the ANBU stumble to the side.

He turned, facing the others, and another found the intruder in front of him. An instant of stillness, before the blonde punched him in the stomach, then the chest, before spinning, and his raised foot struck the ANBU at the neck, dropping him to the ground.

The three ANBU and Danzo leaped away, casting jutsu. Wind, earth, fire, and a thin stream of bugs.

The blonde walked. Walked, that much was certain, but it was like watching someone walk in fast forward. They knew he was walking, but he was moving so fast he was a blur. He strolled around the attacks, and when the smoke of the fire jutsu covered him and they blew it away with wind, they found him gone.

One of them grunted, and when they looked, he was gone. They tensed, forming a triangle, looking at every possible angle. They didn't expect him to be inside the triangle. Casually, the blonde grabbed the heads of the two remaining ANBU, and knocked them together.

Danzo spun around, drawing his sword, but for all his hard-won speed and experience, was barely able to draw half his sword before he felt a fingertip touch his throat. There was a tingle. Electricity. Weaker than any E-class jutsu, but enough to show that there WAS electricity.

Danzo froze. If he activated Izanagi he might be able to escape the situation. But if he was too slow...

The man withdrew. "I could have killed you, but I didn't. I could have killed them, but I didn't. I want to talk. Will you listen?" With that, the man drew up his hands, palms open in a gesture of harmlessness.

The aged ninja blinked, surprised, before studying the features of the intruder. For a moment, he saw instead the Fourth Hokage, resplendent in his power and youth, before he shook off his shock at the man's likeness to the Fourth. It was impossible. The Yellow Flash was dead, and this man was too old to be his son. "Who are you?"

A pause, before, "Maelstrom."

Well, that changed everything.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maelstrom. It was a name spoken always with respect, usually with reverence, and sometimes with fear.

He was a man who had unceremoniously entered the game of thrones and business, and proceeded to rise to the top with so much ease it made everyone else grind their teeth at the sheer effortlessness of the man. It was a testament to his reputation that despite said teeth-grinding, when he had covertly let out that he preferred Mist-nin to any other, Mist had suddenly gotten a ridiculous influx of missions. Unfortunately, it seemed that Mist was managing to keep the customers satisfied, and thus was stealing Konoha's share.

Danzo had thought him a man who had trained his entire life in business and politics by the best of the best. He did not expect him to be a warrior. A warrior, who was apparently good enough to best six jounin ANBU and a grizzled war veteran like himself singlehandedly.

Right now, sitting in front of him in his office drinking tea, Danzo wondered WHAT to think. "Why are you here?"

Maelstrom continued to drink tea. He drank two more sips, before placing the cup on the table. Finally, he deigned to speak. "To talk. Tell me, Danzo, what do you know of Orochimaru's plans?"

The aged ninja frowned. Orochimaru was a rather sore spot for all people of Konoha. Didn't the man know how rude it was to talk about him? Nonetheless, he answered. "He wants eternal life and to master all jutsu in the world. As far as I know, he plans to achieve the former through sick experiments, which were exactly what had him driven out of Konoha."

Maelstrom clicked his tongue. "Current, Danzo. Current."

The frown deepened. "I do not know. If there were someone to have knowledge of those, it would be Jiraiya."

The blonde leaned into his chair. "He has created a Hidden Village, the Village of Sound, and has made an alliance with Sand through killing their Kage and impersonating him. He plans to attack Konoha with their combined forces and the rabid Jinchuuriki of Shukaku. Furthermore, he intends to capture Uchiha Sasuke and take over his body. He thinks the Sharingan will help him learn jutsu faster. Believe me on this: my sources are secret, but trustworthy."

Danzo froze, staring at him, wondering where the hell he had gotten the information and why he was telling him this. "What do you want, Maelstrom?" Information like this always came with a price.

Maelstrom sipped his tea before speaking once more. "Want?" He closed his eyes, and he seemed to be savoring a memory. He opened his eyes. "I want peace, a world without war, where everyone is content. I know what you have done, and what you want to do, and I commend you for it. You always thought of Konoha in everything you did, because you believed it was the only way. But let me tell you, there is another path. Tell me, Danzo, what do you think of peace?"

The aged ninja shook his head once more, wondering how much Maelstrom knew, from his subtle hint that he knew of his plans and dealings. "That is a fool's dream. Perhaps there are times when the entire world is not at war, but peace? True peace? Where everyone is content? That does not exist."

The blonde nodded. "It is as I expected. Such a pessimist."

Danzo frowned. "Do you actually believe in that idea? I expected more of you."

Maelstrom's eyes seemed to darken, and when he spoke, it was with a conviction that shook him to his core. "I believe it because I have seen it. It is beautiful, and it is possible." He lunged, too fast for Danzo to react, and the leader of ROOT found himself looking into a pair of azure eyes, two fingertips touching his forehead. "Look into my eyes, and allow me to show you what I have seen."

The world shifted.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A kingdom. A beautiful kingdom. A peaceful kingdom.

Children played happily, parents smiled at their happiness, and everyone else grinned at their joy. Danzo felt it. Their happiness, their joy, and he couldn't help but smile. All throughout the kingdom, happiness abounded; something he considered an impossibility. Time moved faster, and he saw it grow and prosper, but never change for several hundred years, with the adults growing old and dying, and the children growing to replace them, followed by their children, and their children's children, and so on, but always with a smile on their faces.

The vision shifted, showing an attack by an army against a keep. His face turned grim, expecting them to react badly, to panic, to be caught completely off-guard just like everyone else who had never experienced a battle. He did not expect them to kill like they did it everyday of their lives, faces grim and determined, hearts filled with a fiery resolve for..._something_.

He saw the army turned back and routed, he saw the victorious defenders take the dead and mourn them for a day, their sadness bringing him to tears. Then it was over, the corpses from their side sent to their families, the enemy's sent to the country from where they came from, and the joyful life resumed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Danzo shook his head to clear his thoughts, before looking at Maelstrom, who once again sat before him. "What was that? After a thousand years of peace, how could they fight like that?"

Maelstrom was smiling faintly. "Because they do not forget."

Danzo blinked. "What?"

The blonde gestured vaguely. "Tell me, would you show a child the horrors of war? Of starvation and sickness, of corpses and blood? Will you show a child your greatest shames? Your worst failures? No, you will not. You will try to forget them." The smile widened, and he gazed at something only he could see; probably the kingdom, with reverence. "These people didn't forget. These people preserve their memories for access to the next generation. Their finest hours, and greatest shames. _All of them. _No secret too dark, no indignity too great. Children _experience _war. They see bloodshed, they see suffering, and they wish to god it would never happen."

Danzo stared at him. "That is ridiculous!"

Maelstrom shook his head. "No. It is what should be. They see people who have suffered, they _experience _suffering, and know how good their life is. They feel the horror of taking a life, of seeing your friends die all around you on the battlefield, and they understand how important life is. And yet, they also experience happiness. They live the few times when the world is perfect. When no one is killing someone and love is in the air, and they appreciate it when they actually experience it all the more because they have seen the worst."

"The children grow up wishing for peace, and loving it where they find it, but not in any way naïve. They cry when they lose someone dear, but move on, in the hope of better times, always buoyed by the support of their friends. People support other people in need when they know how much it hurts, and when they are attacked, they fight, and kill, so that others do not have to fight or die. True peace, if true peace could ever exist."

Danzo stared at him, shock and wonder in his eyes. "And the kingdom, does it still exist?"

Maelstrom nodded. "Trust me when I say it does, though it is inaccessible to us. Do you see now? Do you still think of it was a fool's dream? It exists Danzo, and I want to make the entire world just like it."

Danzo settled into his seat, mind reeling. "It is beautiful, and as you have shown me, it is possible. I shouldn't believe you, but..." He gulped, remembering the images, the feelings, vivid and clear and rooted deep into his mind. "...I just _know _that what you showed me was real. What did you do?"

"I opened my mind to you. One day, you will understand how much trust I put in you in doing that."

Danzo breathed deeply. "You want peace. True peace, as you have shown me." A nod. "That will be hard. A momentous undertaking that will take more than our entire lives."

Maelstrom's eyes shone with emotion. "But it is worth it. You felt it. All that happiness, all that joy. It is worth it, for that."

Danzo let out his breath. "Yes. Yes it is." He looked at Naruto. "You have my support. But before you go, tell me; why me, why help Konoha?" Konoha he could understand. It was the greatest Hidden Village, but didn't he say he preferred Mist-nin? And why him? There were better people than him to work with for a goal such as this.

Maelstrom stood up. "Why Konoha? Because you have to start somewhere, and if I wish to stand under the banner of that dream, I must learn to forgive." He looked him in the eye, and smiled. Danzo, for some reason he could not fathom, felt pride at his next words. "Why you? Because I wanted you. I wanted you on my side." Maelstrom's voice intensified, filling with conviction, and Danzo's eyes widened, feeling as he did in the presence of the First Hokage; a man who would make his mark on history unlike any other, only this time, it was so much stronger.

"Change is coming, change the likes of which you could never have imagined, and my mission is to prepare the elemental nations for it. I didn't want the manipulator, Danzo. I didn't want the leader of ROOT. I wanted the man the Second Hokage trusted to do what's best for the village. I wanted the man Sarutobi Hiruzen trusted to guard his back in the war. The Sandaime took down every enemy in front of him, but he wouldn't have gotten as far he did if you didn't kill every ninja that would have stabbed him in the back. I wanted that man, and I have found him." He turned around and disappeared after a step.

Danzo stared at the space he had occupied, wondering if it was all a dream. But no, the cup of tea was there, and the memories of that kingdom were still fresh in his mind. He didn't think he was likely to forget it. Ever.

He looked up at the ceiling. "Forgive, eh? Just this once, I'll be the one to extend the laurel leaf. For that dream, I'll work with you again, you old monkey." He promised himself, even as he wondered what possible sin Konoha had done to Maelstrom.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto looked upon Konoha on top of the Yondaime's head, thoughts whirring through his head.

"So. I've done it. Danzo believes, and that'll make a big difference when the time comes." He looked up to the sky, as if searching for something...or someone. "Three weeks more until the Chuunin Exams. Just a bit more, and we'll finally see each other again." A breeze ruffled his hair, and he closed his eyes to savor the feeling. "Hmm, I wonder how everyone else is doing..."

A gust of wind, and he was gone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sasuke Uchiha smiled at the large crater he had made. His entire body hurt after everything, but he had done it.

Kakashi nodded. "You did it. You can do Chidori now."

"I can win this." The Uchiha survivor proclaimed with a smile.

Then Kakashi said; "Sure you can. Now let's work on making your chakra level higher. It wouldn't do if all that you could do was a single attack." Sasuke paled at the idea. Training, he meant. Fortunately, the son of the White Fang added, "Tomorrow. It's already sundown."

The Uchiha sighed with relief, but as his sensei turned to disappear, he called out, "Wait!"

Kakashi turned back. "Hmm?"

Sasuke took a deep breath. "I've been thinking, about what Naruto told me." Kakashi nodded, understanding how serious of a subject the mysterious blonde was. "What's your opinion on Itachi? When he killed my entire clan. Do you think there was something more to it?"

Silence, before, "I talked with Itachi just days before the massacre. He was just as he always was, except he seemed..._resigned, _for some reason. Yes. I do think there's more to it."

Sasuke nodded. "Thanks sensei."

An eye-smile. "What are senseis for?"

In the background, a figure nodded in approval before disappearing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Having a hard time, girl?"

Hinata Hyuuga stopped in mid-strike at the sound of certain blonde know-it-all's voice. She turned in its direction, finding a blurry figure facing her from the shadow of a tree. "Naruto?"

A clap. "Bingo." He walked out of the shadow, and he smiled not a little bit disquietingly. "Hello girl, how have you been?"

She blinked, then rubbed her eyes. The image didn't change. "Naruto? Is that really you? You look...different." Taller. Older.

He glanced faintly at himself, then shrugged. "A side-effect of something I did. Took a while getting used to the new proportions, but I managed."

"Oh." She fidgeted, wondering what to say. "Umm...why are you here?"

"Checking up on you." He said with all seriousness, though the smile was still there. It was getting unsettling. "You're fighting Neji, and the boy's good, very good."

She pouted. "I know that, but what does that have to do with you being here?" She asked, her voice tense. Naruto was smiling like the cat that got the canary, or someone who knew someone he hated was about to get blown up, and no one was going to help the guy. In fact, if she didn't know, it was-YES! It WAS widening. Okay, now that was disturbing. If that wasn't a hint to be wary, she didn't know what was.

Honestly though, when were the guards going to earn their pay? So many people kept on getting in and out of the Hyuuga compound without getting caught!

Naruto was blunt and to the point with his answer. "I wanted to see if you've gotten good enough to win the battle, and I'm disappointed to see that you're not."

Hinata slumped. _'E-Even Naruto thinks I'm a disappointment...' _She thought dejectedly.

"So I've decided to help you get better, faster!" The blonde added, smile still on.

She blinked, then gaped at him. "You mean..."

"Me? Hell no! I'll probably crush you accidentally." He replied chirpily, the smile growing until Hinata knew for a fact that she should run away now if she wanted to avoid trouble. She was even pumping chakra in her legs in preparation for a jump. Nothing good was coming out of this, she just knew it.

Then of course, he just had to move so fast she didn't notice he had her hand before making a half-seal.

The world shifted, and she suddenly found herself in what seemed to be a training grounds.

Naruto's smile reached its peak, then he spoke. "Yareno."

Someone coughed behind her, and she turned to see a giant of a man dressed in a butler's uniform with a closed fist in front of his mouth. "You called me?"

Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hinata-chan, meet Yareno. Yareno, meet Hinata-chan, who'll be your student for until the Chuunin Exams start, and possibly beyond. Teach her whatever you think she needs, but if it's too personal, it's alright not to teach it to her. I understand. Oh, and she has to be home by ten, so call me when it's time. Well, get to the training you two!" There was a blur, and he disappeared.

Hinata turned to Yareno. Wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into. The man was a giant! She didn't even come to his chest! She breathed deeply, and decided that just because you were intimidated by your new teacher didn't mean you shouldn't be respectful. "Ahh...it is an honor to train under you...Yareno-sensei."

Yareno's reply was a piercing stare, and he didn't stop for minutes, to the point where she started sweating nervously.

Then, "Show me what you can do."

She blinked, then nodded determinedly. "Hai!" She charged, and was surprised to see he was settling into a taijutsu stance. Didn't he know that fighting a Hyuuga in a taijutsu battle was suicide?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Walking away, Naruto chuckled as he heard the explosion, followed by a high-pitched scream from Hinata.

"Get back here, girl! You'll never get anything done if all you do is run away!" Yareno's voice barked out, followed by another explosion. Chunks of rock flew into the air. Another scream.

Naruto laughed. "Hinata, if you're not in a full-body cast in three weeks, then beating Neji would take so little effort you'd make Hiashi proud." There was a sudden clank of steel on steel, then a sound like the earth being torn asunder and a wrecking ball crashing into its twin. Naruto turned in the general direction of the supposed carnage. "Yareno! That was overkill! No borderline S-class moves on the poor little genin!"

Yareno shouted back from far away. "When you made her my student, you put her life in my hands. This is how I trained every one of my students, and this is how I'll train her, no exceptions just because she's Hyuuga."

Naruto blinked at his logic. He was right. But still... "At least TRY not to kill her too much!"

"Sure." Yareno responded. Something powerful shattered a very large rock formation, if the size of the shards in the air were any indication.

In this, Hinata added; "How do you not kill someone too much?"

Yareno's response; "You only fatally wound the person partly."

"What?" To Hinata, this made no sense whatsoever. In truth, it didn't. Naruto and Yareno were just shitting her. Poor girl.

More explosions, and Hinata, shy, sweet, patient Hinata, saw something so horrible she actually swore.

"**What the fuck is wrong with you? Those things are gonna freakin kill me!"**

"They're supposed to."

"**SHIT!"**

Another explosion, and the earth shook with its magnitude.

Naruto actually whistled in appreciation at the dust cloud.

Poor, poor, Hinata.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh come on, it wasn't THAT bad." Naruto consoled her, patting her head soothingly.

"Yes it was!" Hinata shouted at him, shuddering at the memory. She had been pristine when Naruto teleported her to his place, but now, she looked like she had been through a meat grinder, a wood chucker, and a thresher. Giant ones. Simultaneously and not necessarily in that order.

"Well, on the plus side, you only have twenty days of that to go instead of twenty-one! Isn't that great?" Naruto asked cheerily.

Hinata just cried.


End file.
